The Trinity is said to be the main doctrine of Christianity. Verses from Hebrews chapter 1 are often used to support the doctrine. However, there are some very valid and legitimate questions about what the verses in Hebrews actually say about the Trinity issue that need to be answered.
Hebrews 1:1 – “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways” (NIV). Who is the “God” mentioned here?
Hebrews 1:2 – “in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom he made the universe” (NIV).read more
Hebrews is a comprehensive treatise about Christian doctrine. Since the Trinity doctrine is asserted to be the main doctrine of Christianity, we would expect Hebrews to include significant mention of the Trinity doctrine, if it is true.
Is the Trinity doctrine in the book of Hebrews?
In our series about what is stated concerning God the Father, his Son Jesus, and the holy Spirit in the various books of the New Testament, we examine all the relevant scriptures of each particular book. In this article, we will examine the Letter to the Hebrews, and discover powerful testimony about whether or not the doctrine of the Trinity is in Hebrews. All quotes from NIV, unless noted otherwise. Hebrews says God speaks to through his Son.read more
Why does the Trinity matter? – Is Jesus Christ 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
In the book of Acts, did the Apostles teach or preach the Trinity doctrine?
This article is part of our series about what is stated concerning God, Jesus and the holy Spirit, and whether they comprise a Trinity, in the various books of the Bible. This article examines whether the Trinity was taught or preached the book of Acts of the Apostles.
Jesus had foretold that, “the Helper, the Holy Spirit which the Father will send in my place, will teach you everything and remind you of =&0=&“The Helper, the Holy Spirit” would “guide [them] into all the truth” (John 16:13 NIV). Acts records for us how this was done, by documenting the spread of Christianity during its first three decades, including its beginning, when the holy Spirit was “poured out” (Acts 2:33). If the Trinity is true, then the doctrine should be evident in the book of Acts, because it records what the early Christians taught and how Christianity was established throughout the Roman Empire.
Acts 1:3 – “During the forty days after he suffered and =&1=&The resurrection of Christ is the foundation of the Gospel, and it’s the affirmation of Jesus’ Sonship and Messiahship. This is what the early Church preached, as recorded in the Book of Acts and the New Testament letters. However, today many theologians and preachers are “preaching” “a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6-9 NIV), asserting that the essence of the Gospel is that “God became a man and died for our sins. In contrast, for the early church it was,“God has resurrected this Jesus.” (Acts 2:32 HCSB)
Acts 1:4 – “Wait for the gift my Father promised” (NIV). – The Father alone is the one who is in control. “The “gift” refers to the Holy Spirit, as promised in the Old Testament (e.g.,
As part of our series about what is stated in the Bible concerning whether God, Jesus and the holy Spirit are a Trinity in the various books of the New Testament, this article examines the book of Galatians.
Galatians was possibly the earliest book of the New Testament that was written, and focuses on correct Christian doctrine. Was the Trinity part of Christian doctrine discussed in Galatians? Is any aspect of the Trinity doctrine mentioned in the book?
Galatians 1:1 – “Through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead” (NAB). – God is shown to be the Father. Jesus is not referred to as God. God and Jesus are revealed to be two separate and distinct individuals – the superior, God, resurrects the lesser one, Jesus, from the dead. “Yahweh . . . God . . . never dies” (Habakkuk 1:12 NJB). Jesus “was dead” (Revelation 1:18). Therefore, Jesus cannot be Almighty God.
Galatians 1:3– “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (NAB). – Two separate and distinct individuals, namely “God our Father” and “Jesus Christ,” are mentioned, but there is no mention of the holy Spirit. Why not? There is no question the holy Spirit is real. Trinitarians claim it is a person. If the holy Spirit is the third part of a Trinity “Godhead,” as Trinitarians assert, it should have been mentioned here in these greetings. It’d not mentioned because it’s not a person, and therefore can’t send greetings. Why are there no greetings from the Trinity? Why is the Trinity never mentioned in the Bible? – Because it’s a ‘myth’ (1 Timothy 4:7).
Galatians 1:4 – “…who gave himself for our sins… according to the will of our God and Father.”(NIV)– Jesus’ willing sacrificial death was according to his Father’s “will,” which shows Jesus to be the subordinate to his “Father” who “is greater” (John 1:14).
Galatians 1:6 – “You are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ” (NIV). – God and Christ are presented as two different people, with God, the superior, doing the calling. God is clearly shown to be someone other than Jesus Christ.
Galatians 1:15-16 – “God… set me apart… was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles.” (NAB) – “God” reveals “his Son” Jesus Christ to Paul, and uses Paul to “proclaim him to the Gentiles”. God, not Christ is shown to be the one who is in control. “His Son” is here clearly shown to be someone other than “God”.
Galatians 2:20-21 – “I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for it if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing” (NIV). Once again, we see from the scriptures that “God” is someone other than “Christ” and that “Christ died”, which means Christ can’t be God because “God . . . will never die” (Habakkuk 1:12 NJB). Over and over in the scriptures the important point that “Christ died” is emphasized. Trinitarians have invented “a different Jesus” (2 Corinthians 11:4 NLT), a so-called “God-man”, who, they claim, died “in his human nature, but not in his God nature”. However, the scriptures plainly state that “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3). If any part of Christ had remained alive, he could not have died for our sins, which would mean “Christ died for nothing”.
Galatians 3:2,5,14 – “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law . . . does God give you his Spirit . . . by the works of the law” (NIV). “Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed . . . so that we who are believers might receive the promised =&0=&Here we see that God the Father, the Almighty God, operates through Christ Jesus so that believers can ‘receive the holy Spirit through faith’. The holy Spirit is referred to as “the Spirit”, “his Spirit”, and “the promised Holy Spirit”. These descriptions are not descriptive of a person, but of an entity, and provides evidence that the holy Spirit is not a person, contrary to Trinitarian dogma.
Galatians 3:16-18 –“To your seed, who is Christ… God granted it to Abraham through the promise.” (NIV) – God gave Abraham the promise that through his seed (Christ), all nations will be blessed. God is shown to be someone other than “your seed, who is Christ,” and superior to “Christ”, thus eliminating the equality aspect of the Trinity doctrine.
Galatians 3:20 – “Now a mediator is not for one person only, whereas God is only one” (NASB). “Now the mediator or go-between [in a transaction] is not [needed] for just one
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, by looking for evidence for, or against, the Trinity.
1 Corinthians 1:1-3,4,6,9 – “An apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God . . . To the church of God in Corinth and to those sanctified in Christ Jesus . . . Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus . . . God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you . . . God is faithful who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord . . . ” (NIV). – In the opening few verses of 1 Corinthians, God and Jesus are presented as entirely separate and distinct individuals. No greetings from the holy Spirit or the Trinity are mentioned. Why is the holy Spirit not mentioned here? Could it be because it’s not a person? Of course, the holy Spirit is real, even though it is not mentioned here. Now, if God and Jesus were part of a Trinity, as so boldly asserted by theologians, this would be a logical place to mention the holy Spirit, and/or Trinity, in these opening greetings.
1 Corinthians 1:2 – “To the church of God being in Corinth, having been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy, with all those in every place calling on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, theirs and ours:” (Berean Literal Bible). Some claim that “calling on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” means that early Christians prayed to Jesus, however, the scriptures reveal that is not the case. The phrase “to call on the name of our Lord . . . means to confess his lordship rather than to pray to him.” (The Interpreter’s Bible). The writer of 1 & 2 Corinthians, the apostle Paul, did not think of Jesus as God. He referred to “God” as being “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:3 NLT), and said, “we pray to God” (2 Corinthians 13:7 ESV), not “our Lord Jesus Christ”.
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.” – The scripture makes it plain that the Corinthian Christians are “in Christ Jesus” because of God’s choosing. We also learn that Jesus comes from God, but is not God himself. God does not come from Jesus. As Jesus himself said, “I came from God. I came from the Father” (John 16:27,28 NAB). Thus, the scriptures are quite clear that Jesus Christ is not God. If the holy Spirit was a person, and also if the Trinity really existed, it would seem like we should have seen some 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 – “These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.” (NIV). Trinitarians have claimed that the word “searches” indicates something that only a person can do, proves the holy Spirit is a person. However, the holy Spirit is personified here, as it sometimes is in other scriptures (1 John 4:6). In this very first mention of the holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians, it is called “the Spirit” (NAB), or “his spirit” (NIV). God reveals things through the Spirit, because he operates by using the holy Spirit to accomplish his purposes. The language in this verse (“the Spirit”; “his Spirit”) 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 of God” 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, but not a person, as Trinitarians assert.
1 Corinthians 2:12 – “We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit of God” (NRSV; NAB). Many translations render it with Trinitarian bias, “the Spirit who is from God”. Just as “the spirit of the world” isn’t a person, “the Spirit of God” isn’t a person either. We take note that it is “THE Spirit of God”. This is not descriptive of a person. Notice the similarity: “He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the holy Spirit'” (John 20:22 NAB). “This action recalls Gn 2:7 where God breathed on the first man and gave him life; just as Adam’s life came from God, so now the disciples’ new spiritual life comes from Jesus” (NAB note). The point is that the holy Spirit isn’t a person.
1 Corinthians 2:13 – “Words taught by the Spirit”. Trinitarians have claimed this means the holy Spirit is a person, because it is said to ‘teach’. However, the holy Spirit is personified here, as it sometimes is in other scriptures. Notice that, once again, it is called “the Spirit. God reveals things through the Spirit, because he operates by using the holy Spirit to accomplish his purposes. The language in this verse (“the Spirit) 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 2:16 –“Who has known the mind of Yahweh?… But we have the mind of Christ” (LSB margin).– “Yahweh” here is Almighty God the Father. There are distinctive differences between God and Jesus Christ. The ability to know “the mind of Christ”, but not the mind of God, is an indication that God “the Father is greater than” Christ (John 14:28). Jesus Christ admitted he did not know as much as his Father (Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32; Acts 1:8). This eliminates the equality aspect of the Trinity doctrine. The holy spirit is not mentioned here because it is not a person, but is God’s “power” (Acts 1:8), and. therefore, has no mind. The Trinity is not mentioned because it is entirely fictional.
1 Corinthians 3:23 – “You are of Christ and Christ is of God.” – “Of God” means Christ comes from God the Father. However, God is not “of Christ”. Jesus said, “I came from God, I came from the Father” (John 16:27,28 NAB). He is “the firstborn of all creation” (Colossians 1:15 ESV; NASB; NAB; KJV), which means Jesus had a beginning to his life, so he has not been eternal. Without the Son being eternal, Jesus cannot be God, and the Trinity doctrine collapses..
1 Corinthians 4:1 – “As servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed.” – Two entirely separate, distinct individuals are mentioned, “Christ,” and “God.” Notice, however, that it is “God” who has revealed the “mysteries”, not “Christ”, which shows that God is greater than Christ. God here is “the Father”, who Jesus said, “is greater than” he is (John 14:28). Thus, the equality aspect of the Trinity doctrine is eliminated.
1 Corinthians 5:7 – “For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed.” – ‘Christ was sacrificed’, not God. “God . . . never dies” (Habakkuk 1:12 NJB). However, Jesus “Christ died” and “was dead” (1 Corinthians 15:3; Revelation 1:18), so Jesus can’t be God. The fact that Jesus Christ hasn’t been eternal destroys the Trinity dogma.
1 Corinthians 6:11 – “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and through the Spirit of our God.” (NJB) – The holy Spirit, rather than being referred to as a person, is referred to as “the Spirit of our God”, meaning it emanates from God, but is not God. Without the holy Spirit being a person, the so-called third person of the Trinity, the entire Trinity doctrine collapses! The scriptures themselves are the worse enemy of “false doctrines” (1 Timothy 1:3 NIV), such as the Trinity.
1 Corinthians 8:6 – “there is for us only one God, the Father, who is the Creator of all things and for whom we live; and there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created and through whom we live.” (GNB) – ‘There is only one God, the Father’, not a 3-in-1 monstrosity. An obvious distinction is made here between God, who is “the Creator of all things”, and ‘Jesus Christ, through whom God created everything’. Even though Jesus Christ is called “Lord”, that doesn’t make him either “God”, or “the Creator”. Those titles belong to the “the Father”, as we can see from this verse. Jesus is obviously excluded from being God in this verse, and the holy Spirit isn’t even mentioned.
1 Corinthians 10:4 – “that rock was Christ”. Trinitarians have sometimes claimed that Jesus Christ being called “rock” because Almighty God is metaphorically called “the Rock” (Deuteronomy 6:4). “Rock” is used here as a figure of speech, similar to bread and water being used as figures of speech in John 4:14; John 6:30-35.. If the Trinity “Godhead” is true, then why are the Father and the holy Spirit not also included in this figurative “rock”? This is a clue that the Trinity is a ‘false doctrine’ (1 Timothy 1:3).
1 Corinthians 10:16 – “a participation in the blood of Christ… in the body of Christ” (NIV) – In discussing the significance of the Lord’s supper, the blood and body of Christ, not God, symbolize Christ’s sacrificial death. Since “Christ died” (1 Corinthians 15:3), and “God . . . never dies” (Habakkuk 1:12 NJB), Christ cannot be God.
1 Corinthians 11:3 – “The head of Christ is God” – “God is shown to be someone other than “Christ” in this verse. “God” is also shown to be superior (“the head”) over Christ.” Trinitarians sometimes claim that Jesus, the Son of God, if he wasn’t already equal to the Father prior to his resurrection, was made equal to Almighty God the Father at his resurrection. But this verse proves that Jesus was still not equal to his Father at his resurrection, and thereafter. As Jesus himself said, “the Father is greater than I am” (John 14:28 GWT). With the lack of equality between the the Father and the Son, as exemplified by this verse, one of the main tenets of the ‘false doctrine’ (1 Timothy 1:3 NIV) of the Trinity is blown away.
1 Corinthians 11:29 – “Eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ” – In discussing the significance of the Lord’s supper, the blood and body of Christ, not God, symbolize Christ’s sacrificial death. Since “Christ died” (1 Corinthians 15:3), and “God . . . never dies” (Habakkuk 1:12 NJB), Christ cannot be God.
1 Corinthians 12:6,11 – “There are differences of operations, and the same God who makes active all things in all persons . . . and one and the same Spirit makes all of these active, distributing to each appropriately, as it will” (1 Corinthians 12:6,11 Hart).“There are many different forms of activity, but in everybody it is the same God who is at work in them all. But at work in all these is one and the same Spirit, distributing them at will to each individual” (NJB). “But all these gifts are the activity of the one and same Spirit, distributing them to each individual at will” (1 Corinthians 12:11 REB). Most translations render verse 11, “just as He wills,” as if the holy Spirit is a person. Trinitarians use this as one of their “proofs” that the holy Spirit is a “person.” Note that in the accurately rendered Hart translation, the holy Spirit is referred to as “it”. Also, since “God has given us of his Spirit” (1 John 4:13 NAB), “God . . . has given us a share in his Spirit” (1 John 4:13 NJB), it is obvious the holy Spirit is not a person, since one cannot have “a share” of a person. God uses the “Spirit” to enforce and enact his will. Without the holy Spirit being a person, the Trinity doctrine collapses.
“Some of us are Jews, and some of us are Greeks. Some of us are slaves, and some of us are free. But we were all baptized into one body through one Spirit. And we were all made to share in the one Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:13 ICB) Christian unity is stressed, despite great diversity. The Greek word for “one” used here is “hen”, meaning unity.
1 Corinthians 15:3,4 – “Christ died for our sins . . . He was buried, and he was raised on the third day” – God didn’t die, because, “Yahweh . . . God . . . never dies” (Habakkuk 1:12 NJB). Jesus was resurrected, because he “was dead” (Revelation 1:18). Since “Christ died”, he cannot be God, and he has not been eternal, which are two of the main pillars of the Trinity dogma. With the “eternal” feature of the Trinity doctrine scripturally eliminated, the Trinity dogma is vanished.
1 Corinthians 15:3,5– “Christ . . . appeared to Cephas; then to the twelve” (NAB) – This scripture confirms Jesus isn’t God. How did he “appear” to Peter? Christ was “put to death in the flesh, he was made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18 NAB). “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon” (Luke 24:34 NAB). This means that Jesus “appeared in another form” (Mark 16:12), such as a materialized body. Since Jesus Christ appeared to Peter after he was resurrected from the “dead” (Revelation 1:18), and God can’t die (Habakkuk 1:12), but Jesus did, Jesus cannot be God.
1 Corinthians 15:24,27,28 – “Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father” (NAB). “When it said =&0=&
We continue our series about what is stated concerning Jesus in the various books of the New Testament. Today, we will examine the book of Colossians.
Col1:1 – “Apostle of Christ by the will of God.” – Christ subordinate
Col 1:2 – “Brothers in Christ… peace from God our Father.” – Notice the relationship these Christians have – they are brothers of Christ, but children of God.
Col 1:3 – “God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Col 1:12-13 – “giving thanks to the Father… transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.” – Notice the Father is in control and effects this transference.
Col 1:15 – “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” – The image is not the same as the Father. Jesus is also referred to as a creature, not creator.
Col 1:16 – “All things were created through him and for him.” – Jesus is not the originator, but was used by God mightily in creation.
Col 1:18 – “The firstborn from the dead.” – The first one resurrected by God to heaven “that in all things he himself might be preeminent.” – NAB ftn – When Christ was raised by God as firstborn from the dead he was placed (by God) over the Church.
Col 1:19-20 (NIV) – “God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him.” – God in control of Christ.
Col 1:20 (NIV) –“Through him [Christ] to reconcile to himself all things.” God uses Christ to reconcile “by making peace through his blood.” – God used Christ to make peace.
Col 1:21-22 (NLT) – “This includes you who were once far away from God… now he reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ… as a result he has brought you into his own presence.” – God uses Christ to bring people to him. God and Christ are obviously not the same.
Col 1:27 (NLT) – “God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too.”
Col 1:28 – “So we tell others about Christ… We want to present them to God.” – God and Jesus are separate.
Col 2:2 – “and grasp God’s secret, which is Christ himself.” – REB
Col 2:8-9 – “Christ. For it is in him that all the fullness if God’s nature lives bodily.”
Col 2:10 – “You have been filled by Him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.” – God used/uses Jesus, and God also uses Christians, but this does not make anyone else God Almighty, including Jesus.
Col 2:12 – “God, who raised him from the dead.” – Jesus did not resurrect God.
Col
3:1 – “Where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God.” – Jesus is favored by God, but is not God.read more
In the 27 books of the New Testament (NT), this core doctrine (the Trinity) of most Protestant, Catholic, and non-denominational churches should be prolific, and abundantly clear. Is it?
Each New Testament Bible book has certain statements of its main points, its core ideas. Church leaders generally assert that the Father is God, Jesus, the Son, is God, and the holy Spirit is God, and yet, they are just one God, not three Gods. They are said to be each eternal and equal in this “Godhead,” as they call it. If these ideas are true, we should see this clearly in the NT. Do we?read more
“Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ” (1 John 4:1
The letter of 1 John was one of the last books of the New Testament to be written, near the end of the first century. Trinitarians say that the New Testament teaches the Trinity doctrine with absolute definiteness. If these assertions are true, we should surely find some evidence of such at this late date in the first century, because “the faith . . . was once for all handed down to the holy ones” (Jude 3 NAB) with the completion of the Bible. So let’s see exactly what we do find when we examine the question, “Does 1 John teach the Trinity doctrine?”
1 John 1:2 – “This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us” (NLT). It is very obvious that this verse is describing Jesus Christ, and that “he was with the Father.” Notice how this compares with, “the Word was with God . . . He was with God in the beginning” (John 1:1,2). Using the scriptures, we can discern that God is the Father, not Jesus Christ. Being “with” someone makes it clear that “two” separate and distinct individuals are being discussed (John 8:17,18). The statement, “We have seen him” is clear and unequivocal proof that Jesus cannot be God, because “no one has ever seen God” (1 John 4:12 NIV). The holy Spirit is not mentioned here, which it likely would be if the Trinity doctrine was true. Nothing is either stated, nor implied, about a Trinity, or that Jesus is Almighty God.
1 John 1:3 – “Our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (NIV). Two entirely separate and distinct individuals, the Father and his Son, are mentioned, but not the holy Spirit, or the Trinity. God the Father, and his Son, Jesus Christ are both real individual persons. Jesus Christ himself makes it clear that he and his Father are “two witnesses,” who are entirely separate and distinct individuals, as opposed to only “one witness” (John 8:17,18; Deuteronomy 17:6). The holy Spirit is not a person, so no fellowship is possible with it.
1 John 1:5 – “This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all” (NLT). Jesus has been an instrumental witness that God the Father is “light”. “You will have Yahweh for an everlasting light” (Isaiah 60:19 LSB). “Let us walk in the light of Yahweh” (Isaiah 2:5 LSB). “We heard from Jesus . . . God is light”, is clear testimony indicating that “two” entirely distinct and separate individuals are involved, namely Almighty God and his Son, Jesus Christ (John 8:17,18), but not the holy Spirit, because it is not a person.
1 John 1:7 – “The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (NIV). His Son? Whose Son? “God the Father” (2 John 3). The Father-Son relationship is emphasized by implication. A father and a son are often similar, but are always two entirely different individuals, for example, being different in age. The same is true for God the Father, who is “eternal” (1 Timothy 1:17 NIV), and his Son Jesus, who had an “origin” (Micah 5:2 NRSV). “The blood of Jesus” means that “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3), in contrast to “Yahweh . . . God, who never dies” (Habakkuk 1:12 NJB). The scriptural truth that Christ has not been eternal and “died” eliminates a major component of the Trinity doctrine. All this is in stark contrast to the Trinity doctrine, which blurs the distinctions between God the Father and his Son Jesus.
1 John 2:1,2 – “We have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice for our sins” (NLT) – Jesus is with his Father, serving, in effect, as our lawyer, before “God the judge of all” (Hebrews 12:24), in this word picture. A lawyer and a judge are two separate and distinct individuals (John 8:17,18), with the judge being the higher power (John 14:28). “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3), which is something that God cannot do (Habakkuk 1:12 NIV). Thus, the equality and the eternity claims of the Trinity dogma are eliminated.
1 John 2:20 – “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things” (NKJV). “This anointing is in the Old Testament sense of receiving the Spirit of God . . . True knowledge is the gift of the Spirit [cf Is 11:2], and the function of the Spirit is to lead Christians to the truth [John 14:17,26; 16:13]” (NAB note). “‘It will come to pass in the last days,’ God says, ‘that I will pour out a portion of my spirit upon all flesh'” (Acts 2:17 NAB). All of this weighs heavily against the Trinitarian idea that the holy Spirit is God, the third person of their Trinity. Trinitarians have claimed that since Jesus “searches hearts and minds” (Revelation 2:23 NIV), he must be God, because God knows everything. However, as we can see from the phrase, “you know all things”, such statements are not meant to be stretched to their ultimate, but understood in light of both the local and remote context of the entire Bible.
1 John 2:22-24– “Who is the liar except the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also . . . you will also abide in the Son and in the Father” (LSB). The conjunction “and” means two entirely separate and distinctive individuals. A key issue mentioned here is “that Jesus is the Christ”, not the Trinitarian “Jesus is God”, or “Jesus is God the Son”. A parallel verse to these verses is,”Whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 1:9). The Father and the Son are two entirely separate individuals is stressed in 1 John 2:22-24, but especially with the use of the word “both” to describe them in 2 John 1:9. “Both” clearly means “two” (John 8:17,18). What about the holy Spirit? Why is it not mentioned here, if the Trinity doctrine is true? – Because the holy Spirit is not a person, and the Trinity is a false doctrine (1 Timothy 1:3)!
1 John 3:8,16 – “The Son of God appeared . . . . Jesus Christ laid down his life for us” (NIV). The scriptures do not say “God appeared”, or “God the Son”. Jesus is never called ‘God the Son’ in the Bible. Almighty God didn’t die, in fact, he cannot die. “My God, my Holy One, you will never die” (Habakkuk 1:12 NIV). “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3 NIV). So that means Jesus can’t be God.
1 John 3:20 – “God is greater than our hearts and knows all things” (NAB). Trinitarians have claimed that since Jesus “searches hearts and minds” (Revelation 2:23 NIV), he must be God, because God knows everything. Almighty God the Father is the only one who “knows all things.” Jesus, “Son though he was, he learned obedience from the things he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8 NAB). Jesus had to ‘learn obedience’, which shows he is not all-knowing, as God is. However, we can see from the definitive phrase, “God . . . knows all things”, God the Father is set apart from everyone else. Indeed, only he is said to have “perfect knowledge” (Job 36:4 NIV).
1 John 3:21-23 – “We have confidence before God and we receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ” (NIV). Here, “God” Almighty is clearly shown to be someone other than “Jesus Christ”, and as supreme (“we receive from him”), as the one who grants our requests. Jesus himself said, “the Father is greater than I am” (John 14:28). Jesus Christ is clearly presented as God’s distinctive Son (“his Son”), never as the unscriptural “God the Son,” or as God Almighty. Without the Son being God, and equal to the Father, the Trinity doctrine collapses.
1 John 3:24 – “All who obey his commands keep in union with him, and he does with them; and this is how we know that he keeps in union with us–by the Spirit which he has given us” (AAT). A key component of the Trinity doctrine is the supposed personhood of the holy Spirit. However, the terminology, “the Spirit” is very strong evidence that holy Spirit is not a person. Persons are not referred to as “the.” Notice also that it is referred to as “the Spirit which he has given us,” another clue that the holy Spirit is not a person. “‘It will come to pass in the last days,’ God says, that I will pour out a portion of my spirit upon all flesh'” (Acts 2:17 NAB). “A portion of my spirit” is not indicative of personhood.
1 John 4:1-3– “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the
The Trinity is said to be the main doctrine of Christianity. Verses from Hebrews chapter 1 are often used to support the doctrine. However, there are some very valid and legitimate questions about what the verses in Hebrews actually say about the Trinity issue that need to be answered.
