only begotten Son – Understanding Scripture

The Doctrine of Christ

The apostle John wrote, “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son” (2Jo 1:9). The Trinitarian view of God transgresses the doctrine of Christ—it’s not what He taught. And according to John, whoever transgresses what Jesus Christ taught doesn’t have God.

The Greek theos for “god” is simply a position of authority, not a kind or type of being. The Father is God, not because of what He is as a being but because of His status as the highest authority over all, including over His Son Jesus Christ. That theos is a position of authority is evident by the Son of God Himself using this word for both men and God within the same statement, “Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods [theos]? If he called them gods [theos], unto whom the word of God [theos] came” (Jhn 10:34-35). Furthermore, theos is grammatically singular or plural depending on the number of persons as Christ used it here. A plurality of persons is multiple gods—three persons can’t be one God either grammatically or logically. And Jesus affirmed what Moses said about God, “The Lord [kyrios] our God is one Lord [kyrios]” (Mar 12:29). The Greek kyrios is a “lord,” “master,” or “ruler.” Since God is one Lord or Ruler, then God is not three co-equal Rulers.

The doctrine of Christ is that He was begotten of God, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son … the only begotten Son of God” (Jhn 3:16,18). Since theos isn’t a kind of being but a position of authority, then the Son was begotten as the same kind of divine being but always under the authority of His Father God. In the incarnation, He came down from heaven and transitioned to a human kind of being through the virgin birth while continuing to be the Son of God.

Jesus claimed of Himself: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten [monogenes] Son” (Jhn 3:16); “he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten [monogenes] Son of God” (Jhn 3:18); “I proceeded forth and came from God” (Jhn 8:42); “I came out from God. I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world” (Jhn 16:27-28). It’s His own words “begotten,” “proceeded forth,” and “came out from God” that attest to His begetting and His beginning. But since God has no beginning, Trinitarianism can’t embrace His literal begetting, therefore make the nonsensical claim that He is eternally begotten or generated. Many modern Bible versions take this a step further in obscuring the concept of begetting entirely by rendering the Greek monogenes as “only” or “one and only,” making Him say something different than what He said.

Several times Jesus Christ called Himself “the Son of God,” and twice from heaven His Father called Him “My Beloved Son.” The Son never called Himself “God” and the Father never called His Son “God.” The Son did, however, call His Father “God” and called Him the only true God, “You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (Jhn 17:3). And the apostle Paul affirmed the same, “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him” (1Co 8:6).

The doctrine of Christ is that His Father is His God as He called Him before He died, after He was resurrected, and after He was seated next to Him: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mat 27:46; Mar 15:34), “I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God” (Jhn 20:17); “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God” (Rev 3:12).

Many times the apostles called the Father, Jesus Christ’s God: “God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 15:6); “And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s” (1Co 3:23); “the head of Christ is God” (1Co 11:3); “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2Co 11:31); “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 1:3); “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory” (Eph 1:17); “God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Col 1:3); “therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows” (Heb 1:9); “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Pe 1:3). The statement “God the Father” appears several times in the Scriptures but the Trinitarian statements “God the Son” and “God the Holy Spirit” aren’t found even once. There are over 50 verses that identify the Father as God: Jhn 1:18, 5:18, 6:27,46, 13:3, 16:27, 20:17; Act 2:33; Rom 1:7, 15:6; 1Co 1:3, 8:6, 15:24; 2Co 1:2-3, 11:31; Gal 1:1,3-4, 4:6; Eph 1:2-3,17, 4:6, 5:20, 6:23; Phl 1:2, 2:11, 4:20; Col 1:2-3, 3:17; 1Th 1:1,3, 3:11,13; 2Th 1:1-2, 2:16; 1Ti 1:2; 2Ti 1:2; Tit 1:4; Phm 1:3; Heb 12:7; Jas 1:27, 3:9; 1Pe 1:2-3; 2Pe 1:17; 2Jo 1:3; Jde 1:1; Rev 1:6.

The belief and confession of the apostles and early church was that Jesus Christ is the Son of God: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mat 16:16); “that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (Jhn 20:31); “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God” (Act 8:37); “he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God” (Act 9:20); “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us” (2Co 1:19); “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God” (1Jo 4:15); “he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God” (1Jo 5:5). The Trinitarian confession “God the Son,” however, denies that He is the Son of God because He can’t be both. If He is God’s Son, He can’t be God. But if He is God, He can’t be God’s Son. Defining Him as “God the Son” denies Him as the Son of God—the very confession of salvation.

John wrote repeatedly that eternal life is through the Son of God: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life” (Jhn 3:36); “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (Jhn 17:1-3); “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (Jhn 20:31); “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1Jo 5:11-12); “even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life” (1Jo 5:20).

Jesus said that the throne on which He sits is His Father’s and that He is sitting with Him, “set down with my Father in his throne” (Rev 3:21). When speaking of Him sitting with God, He is always said to be seated at God’s right hand and never that God is seated at His left: “Sit thou at my right hand” (Psa 110:1); “the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power” (Mat 26:64); “by the right hand of God exalted” (Act 2:33); “even at the right hand of God” (Rom 8:34); “Christ sitteth on the right hand of God” (Col 3:1); “sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb 1:3); “who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens” (Heb 8:1); “sat down on the right hand of God” (Heb 10:12); “set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2); “on the right hand of God” (1Pe 3:22).

The main statement used to claim that Jesus Himself is God: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.” (Jhn 1:1-2). But twice John said He was “with God.” How can He be with Him and also be Him? Since John later wrote, “the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father” (1Jo 1:1-2), then “with God” corresponds to “with the Father.” The context of “the Word was God” includes several figures of speech or metaphors. The Son of God isn’t literally “the Word” (v. 1) or “the Light” (v. 7). These are figures of speech. And just as “the light was the life” (v. 4) is a metaphor, so is “the Word was God.” The Word Himself later stated “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (14:9), and Paul said He was “the image of God” (2Co 4:4), “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15). He represented God so perfectly that John could say He “was God” in metaphorical equivalence.

“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (Jhn 1:18); “Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape” (Jhn 5:37); “Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father” (Jhn 6:46); “whom no man hath seen, nor can see” (1Ti 6:16); “No man hath seen God at any time” (1Jo 4:12). Nobody but the Son of God has seen God because He was with God. And who knows God better than His only begotten Son? Furthermore, Jesus Christ is the arbiter of the truth: “grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (Jhn 1:17); “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (Jhn 8:32); “And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?” (Jhn 8:46); “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (Jhn 14:6); “Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice” (Jhn 18:37); “the truth is in Jesus” (Eph 4:21). What He said about God and about Himself is the final word.

Trinitarian ministers, on the other hand, disagree with the Son of God about God! Disagreeing with Him about anything is alarming enough but our view of God is most important. If they’re wrong about what’s greatest, what about everything else? How can these highly educated ministers with Masters and even Doctorate degrees be wrong about the most crucial subject of all? Could it just be an honest mistake, or is something else going on? If they’re sincerely wrong, then all they need to do is start teaching it right. But if they’re knowingly transgressing the doctrine of Christ, then according to John they don’t have God. And if they won’t listen to Him, why listen to them?

What Would You Do?

“For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:7-8). Because it’s very difficult for us to grasp the magnitude of God’s love, Paul illustrates it from a human perspective to which we can more easily relate. It’s uncommon for someone to die for a righteous person, “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die.” And rarer that someone would die for a good person, “yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.” But who would give their life for an evil person? Can we imagine ourselves taking the place of someone facing execution for horrific crimes? Would we willingly die for someone guilty of horrible abuse, torture, and murder? Yet this still doesn’t depict the true depth of God’s unfathomable love toward us.

Taking it a step further, how much more difficult to give our own child and only child? Any good parent that loves their children dearly couldn’t imagine giving one of them to die for someone else, even if they’re good or righteous. How much more unimaginable to give our only child so that an evil convicted criminal can go free! Yet God gave His only begotten Son for us, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son” (Jhn 3:16). God watched as His Son was horribly mistreated, publicly shamed, and executed as a convicted criminal while doing nothing to spare Him or ease His suffering in the least. Now, He simply demands us to submit entirely to His Son—obeying His commandments, living by His teaching, and standing for the glory of His name. But what if we only submit to His Son partially? Will He still save us? Imagine yourself in His place. You painfully gave your only son to save a criminal with the simple condition that they submit entirely to him. But they won’t do it, yet still want you to save them. What would you do?

Try to imagine ourselves from God’s perspective. We so loved the very people that had been committing all kinds of evil against us, that we gave our only son to endure such horrible mistreatment to save them. We gave them the greatest gift of our own son, and now our only term is that they submit to him fully. Yet they now want that salvation but on their own terms. Rather than being utmost grateful and submitting to our son entirely as we require, they want to pick and choose from his commandments and teaching. What would you do?

If you sent your son to teach people about you and die for what he taught, yet people won’t listen to him entirely, how would you take it? It isn’t that you just sent prophets to teach them about you, but that you sent your own son and did nothing to ease his suffering for what he taught. Would it grieve you that people won’t listen to him but still want you to save them? What would you do?

“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him” (Jhn 4:23). Your son boldly taught the truth about you, yet people are unwilling to affirm and confess what your son taught. Your son was unashamed you. Will you allow them to be ashamed of your son? “For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels” (Luk 9:26). Your son was unashamed of the truth. Will you allow them to be ashamed of the truth? What would you do?

This is quite the picture of Trinitarianism today. God’s Son never called Himself “God” but called His Father “the only true God” (Jhn 17:3). He also called His Father “My God” while on the cross (Mat 27:46; Mar 15:34), after His resurrection (Jhn 20:17), and after His seating next to Him in heaven (Rev 3:12). Yet Trinitarianism says differently—that the Son is God, and that the Father and Son are co-equal. Why get this wrong? Did God’s Son fail to teach clearly? If your son taught about you so that people would get it right, would you overlook their getting it wrong? If they have no excuse, would you excuse them? What would you do?

I’m no longer a Trinitarian and I won’t affirm Trinitarians as saved. And the same goes for all other aberrant views of God: Jehovah’s Witnesses, Latter-day Saints, Muslims, Oneness, and Unitarians. To affirm them would be to deny what Christ taught about God and about Himself, thereby forfeiting my own salvation. If you’re a Trinitarian and think you can remain one and still be saved, that’s certainly your prerogative. But I would simply ask you to imagine yourself from God’s perspective. You sent your only begotten son to teach the truth about you to people that committed horrible crimes against you, then watched as your son suffered and died for them and for the truth he taught. You gave them the greatest gift of all. Would you now be willing to “fudge” on what your son taught and save them anyway? What would you do?

The God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ

What God and gospel do Trinitarian ministers preach? Is it the God that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself preached? Is it the gospel that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself preached? If it’s not, then what does that say about them? Jesus preached the truth, and anyone preaching different is wrong. Since no subjects are more important than God and the gospel, if Trinitarian ministers are wrong about what’s most important, why listen to them about anything else?

Several times Christ called Himself “the Son of God,” and twice from heaven His Father called Him “My Beloved Son.” The Son never called Himself “God” and the Father never called His Son “God.” The Son did, however, call His Father “God” and called Him the only true God, “thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent” (Jhn 17:3). Trinitarian ministers, however, deny that the Father is the only true God but preach that Christ is also God.

Christ taught that He was begotten of God: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son … the only begotten Son of God” (Jhn 3:16,18); “I proceeded forth and came from God” (Jhn 8:42); “I came out from God. I came forth from the Father” (Jhn 16:27,28). It’s His own words “begotten,” “proceeded forth,” and “came out from God” about Himself that attest to His begetting and His beginning. Trinitarian ministers, however, deny that the Son had a beginning but preach that He has always existed as God Himself.

Christ called His Father “my God” before He died, after He was resurrected, and after He was seated next to Him: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mat 27:46; Mar 15:34); “I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God” (Jhn 20:17); “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God” (Rev 3:12). Trinitarian ministers, however, deny that the Father is the Son’s God but preach that the Son is co-equal with the Father.

Christ stated that His miracles were not of Himself: “I cast out devils by the Spirit [breath] of God” (Mat 12:28); “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do” (Jhn 5:19); “I can of mine own self do nothing” (Jhn 5:30); “the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (Jhn 14:10). Trinitarian ministers, however, deny that Christ was given the power to work miracles but preach that His miracles were by His own power as God Himself.

In Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, He said nothing of believing but everything of obeying. He began the main portion by declaring, “That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Mat 5:20). He said that if we don’t live righteously according to the standard He taught in this Sermon, then in no case, without exception, will we enter His Kingdom. We must live righteously to be saved. And He ended His Sermon, “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them … And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not” (Mat 7:24,26). It’s simple—we’re saved by doing what He said but perish if we don’t. Trinitarian ministers, however, deny that we can live righteously but preach that we must only believe.

Christ preached faithfulness to Him as Lord: “Who then is a faithful and wise servant” (Mat 24:45); “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things” (Mat 25:21); “Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little” (Luk 19:17); “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much” (Luk 16:10). Trinitarian ministers, however, deny that we’re saved by faithful service to Christ as Lord, and translate the Greek noun [pistis 4102] throughout the New Testament as “faith” rather than “faithfulness” to preach salvation by faith alone.

Trinitarian ministers transgress what the Son of God Himself taught about God, and what the Savior Himself taught about salvation. John wrote, “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son” (2Jn 1:9). The view of God and the gospel preached by Trinitarian ministers transgresses the doctrine of Christ—He didn’t teach them. And according to John, whoever transgresses what Jesus Christ taught doesn’t have God.

The litmus test of any minister is if they preach the same God and gospel that Jesus Christ Himself preached. Trinitarian ministers, however, preach a different God and gospel, and therefore don’t have God. If they don’t have God, why listen to them?

Listen to Jesus!

We’re now living in the time Paul said would come, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables [mythos 3454]” (2Ti 4:3-4). The Greek mythos is where the English “myths” is derived. The myths being taught today that the one true God is a Trinity of co-equal persons, that man is an immortal spirit living inside a body that goes to heaven or hell after death, and that salvation is by faith, didn’t come from Jesus Christ. But people have been turned to such myths and don’t want to hear the truth. They won’t listen to Jesus!

Everything the Son said is the truth: “grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (Jhn 1:17); “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (Jhn 8:32); “And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?” (Jhn 8:46); “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (Jhn 14:6); “Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice” (Jhn 18:37); “the truth is in Jesus” (Eph 4:21).

Jesus claimed He was begotten of God, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son … because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (Jhn 3:16,18). His begetting, before the beginning, was His beginning. Several times He called Himself the Son of God, and twice from heaven His Father called Him “My beloved Son.” However, He never called Himself “God,” and His Father never called Him “God.” Before His death, after His resurrection, and after being seating at God’s right hand, He called His Father “My God.” That God is three persons is simply a myth people want to hear. They won’t listen to Jesus!

Jesus never taught that people leave their bodies at death and go to heaven or a spiritual place of fire called hell. He taught the resurrection of the physical body, “And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (Jhn 5:29). And He taught that the resurrected body goes to geenna, the physical place of the lake of fire, “thy whole body should be cast into hell [geenna 1067]” (Mat 5:29); “having two eyes to be cast into hell [geenna 1067] fire” (Mat 18:9); “having two hands to go into hell [geenna 1067], into the fire that never shall be quenched” (Mar 9:43). But people want to hear the myth of going to heaven. They won’t listen to Jesus!

Jesus said that we must live according to the standard of righteousness He taught in His Sermon on the Mount or we won’t be entering His Kingdom, “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Mat 5:20). That “in no case enter” is that there absolutely will be no exceptions. We must live righteously. But people have been taught that they’re saved by faith.

Jesus also said that if we hear and do what He commanded, we’ll be like a house built upon a foundation that won’t fall, “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock” (Mat 7:24-25). But if we hear and won’t do what He commanded, then we’ll be like a house built upon sand that will be destroyed, “And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it” (Mat 7:26-27). People want to hear the myth that we simply need to believe to be saved. They won’t listen to Jesus!

After having been seated at the Father’s right hand, the Son gave messages to seven churches and concluded each by calling Himself “the breath” figuratively seven times, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit [breath] saith unto the churches” (Rev 2:7,11,17,29, 3:6,13,22). These warnings were as if saying, “You had better listen to what I’m telling you because I’m the one that makes the final decision whether or not God will raise you to eternal life by His breath!” Eternal life is by God breathing life back into our bodies in resurrection. And since this determination was given to the Son, we must listen to Him.

Being saved by the Savior is contingent upon listening to Him—agreeing with all He claimed, living by all He taught, and submitting to all He commanded. But if we won’t listen to Him, we have no hope of salvation. We’re utterly hopeless and can’t be helped. Paul prophesied of the situation today, “And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables [mythos].” People are listening to myths. They won’t listen to Jesus!

10 Reasons the Doctrine of the Trinity is False

Only God the Father and the Son of God know each other, and only the Son has seen the Father.
- Only the Father and Son know each other: “All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him” (Mat 11:27); “Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also” (Jhn 8:19); “Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying” (Jhn 8:55); “As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep” (Jhn 10:15); “O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me” (Jhn 17:25).
- Nobody but the Son has seen God the Father: “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (Jhn 1:18); “And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.” (Jhn 5:37); “Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father” (Jhn 6:46); “Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see” (1Ti 6:16); “No man hath seen God at any time” (1Jo 4:12).
- The Son called Himself “the Son of God” and the Father called Him “My Beloved Son.” The Son never called Himself “God” and the Father never called His Son “God.” Furthermore, the Son did call His Father “God” and even called Him “My God.” Finally, neither of them called the Holy Spirit [Breath] “God.” What the Father and Son said about each other is the final word. Who dare say otherwise?
Jesus Christ taught that God is one Person.
- Speaking to His Father, Jesus called Him the only true God, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (Jhn 17:3). He identified and categorized His Father as the only true God, and excluded Himself from the only true God.
- Jesus affirmed what Moses wrote, “And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord [kyrios] our God is one Lord [kyrios]” (Mar 12:29). The Greek kyrios appears about 750 times in the New Testament and is a lord, master, or ruler. Since “The Ruler” is “one Ruler,” therefore Jesus Himself attested that God is not three co-equal Rulers but one.
- The Greek theos for “God” or “gods” is grammatically in the singular or plural form depending on the number of persons. One person requires theos to be singular while multiple persons requires it to be plural. This is simple grammar. And since Jesus always used theos in the singular when speaking about God, then God must be one Person. This is further bolstered by the fact that when He spoke about men as gods—more than one person as theos—He used the plural, “I said, Ye are gods [theos]? If he called them gods [theos]” (Jhn 10:34-35). Jesus Christ and the apostle Paul both used this word in plural and singular form even within the same statement, “I said, Ye are gods [theos]? If he called them gods [theos], unto whom the word of God [theos] came” (Jhn 10:34-35), “For though there be that are called gods [theos], whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods [theos] many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God [theos], the Father” (1Co 8:5-6). Paul also emphasized that the plural is “many” and the singular is “one.” Since both Jesus and Paul understood and used theos as either plural or singular based on the number of persons, then the singular Theos is one Person.
Scripture is replete with statements identifying the Father as God with many of these same statements also distinguishing the Son in distinction from Him as the Lord Jesus Christ: “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (Jhn 1:18); “but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God” (Jhn 5:18); “for him hath God the Father sealed” (Jhn 6:27); “Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father” (Jhn 6:46); “Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God” (Jhn 13:3); “For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God” (Jhn 16:27); “Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God” (Jhn 20:17); “Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear” (Act 2:33); “To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 1:7); “That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 15:6); “Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (1Co 1:3); “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him” (1Co 8:6); “Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father” (1Co 15:24); “Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort” (1Co 1:2-3); “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not” (2Co 11:31); “Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)” (Gal 1:1); “Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father” (Gal 1:3-4); “Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 1:2-3); “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him” (Eph 1:17); “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Eph 4:6); “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 5:20); “Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 6:23); “Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phl 1:2); “And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phl 2:11); “Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (Phl 4:20); “To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you” (Col 1:2-3); “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him” (Col 3:17); “unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1Th 1:1); “Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father” (1Th 1:3); “Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you” (1Th 3:11); “To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints” (1Th 3:13); “Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2Th 1:1-2); “Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace” (2Th 2:16); “Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord” (1Ti 1:2); “Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord” (2Ti 1:2); “Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour” (Tit 1:4); “Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phm 1:3); “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this” (Jas 1:27); “Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God” (Jas 3:9); “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” (1Pe 1:2); “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Pe 1:3); “For he received from God the Father honour and glory” (2Pe 1:17); “Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love” (2Jo 1:3); “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called” (Jde 1:1); “And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” (Rev 1:6).
The throne of God is the Father’s while the Son is seated next to Him on His right hand. We’re never told that the Father is seated on the left hand of the Son and we’re never told of a third Person seated on the throne with them: “Sit thou at my right hand” (Psa 110:1); “Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God” (Luk 22:69); “being by the right hand of God exalted” (Act 2:33); “who is even at the right hand of God” (Rom 8:34); “set him at his own right hand” (Eph 1:20); “Christ sitteth on the right hand of God” (Col 3:1); “sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb 1:3); “who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens” (Heb 8:1); “sat down on the right hand of God” (Heb 10:12); “is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2); “is on the right hand of God” (1Pe 3:22); “am set down with my Father in his throne” (Rev 3:21); “the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev 22:3).
The Father is Jesus Christ’s God.
- Jesus Christ Himself called His Father “My God” twice before He died, once before He ascended to heaven, and four times after He had ascended to heaven: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mat 27:46; Mar 15:34); “I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God” (Jhn 20:17); “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God” (Rev 3:12).
- The prophets and apostles wrote that the Father is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? … O my God, I cry in the daytime … thou art my God from my mother’s belly” (Psa 22:1-2, 10); “I delight to do thy will, O my God” (Psa 40:8); “God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 15:6); “And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s” (1Co 3:23); “the head of Christ is God” (1Co 11:3); “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2Co 11:31); “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 1:3); “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory” (Eph 1:17); “God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Col 1:3); “therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows” (Heb 1:9); “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Pe 1:3).
The Father and Son aren’t co-equal. The Son derives His power and authority from the Father: “until I make thine enemies thy footstool” (Psa 110:1); “All things are delivered unto me of my Father” (Mat 11:27); “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Mat 28:18); “Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God” (Luk 22:69); “The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand” (Jhn 3:35); “Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands” (Jhn 13:3); “for my Father is greater than I” (Jhn 14:28); “Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted” (Act 2:33); “Him hath God exalted” (Act 5:31); “For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all” (1Co 15:27-28); “And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church” (Eph 1:22); “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name” (Phl 2:9); “he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they” (Heb 1:4); “Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet” (Heb 2:8); “angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him” (1Pe 3:22); “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing” (Rev 5:12).
The Trinitarian claim that Jesus was eternally begotten is an oxymoron. The normal and reasonable understanding of a father and son relationship is that a son begins existing at the time he is begotten or brought forth. The Son of God hasn’t always existed but had a beginning when He was begotten or brought forth by His Father before the creation of the universe: “When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth” (Pro 8:24-25); “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (Jhn 1:14); “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (Jhn 1:18); “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Jhn 3:16); “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (Jhn 3:18); “If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me” (Jhn 8:42); “For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.” (Jhn 16:27-28); “For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me” (Jhn 17:8); “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him” (1 John 4:19).
The miraculous works Jesus Christ performed were not by any divine power He retained when He became fully human, but were by God the Father performing the works through Him.
- Jesus Himself said that He couldn’t do the miraculous works but that His Father was doing them: “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God” (Mat 12:28); “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father” (Mar 13:32); “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do” (Jhn 5:19); “I can of mine own self do nothing” (Jhn 5:30); “the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (Jhn 14:10).
- Jesus Christ performed miracles as the Prophet foretold by Moses, “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet … I will raise them up a Prophet” (Deu 18:15, 18). God performed the miracles through Him as the Prophet: “This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee” (Mat 21:11); “That a great prophet is risen up among us” (Luk 7:16); “no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him” (Jhn 3:2); “Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world” (Jhn 6:14); “When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done? … Of a truth this is the Prophet” (Jhn 7:31, 40); “Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know” (Act 2:22); “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him” (Act 10:38).
The Holy Spirit [Hagios Pneuma] is not a personal being but the Breath of God. The Greek pneuma should have been translated throughout the New Testament as “breath” not “spirit.”
- The Greek pneuma is simply the noun form of the verb pneo which means “to blow” (Mat 7:25, 27; Luk 12:55; Jhn 3:8, 6:18; Act 27:40; Rev 7:1).
- The Greek pneuma is where our English word “pneumonia” is derived which a respiratory infection in the air sacs of the lungs that causes difficulty in breathing and can be life-threatening. Another word is “pneumatics” which is the scientific study of compressed air, not of spirit beings!
- Jesus Himself defined Hagios Pneuma as “breath” by literally breathing on His disciples, “And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost [Hagios Pneuma]” (Jhn 20:22).
- It’s the Breath of God the Father: “the Spirit [Breath] of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Gen 1:2); “For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit [Breath] of your Father which speaketh in you” (Mat 10:20); “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit [Breath] to them that ask him?” (Luk 11:13); “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit [Breath] of truth, which proceedeth from the Father” (Jhn 15:26); “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit [Breath] of God dwell in you” (Rom 8:9); “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit [Breath] of God dwelleth in you?” (1Co 3:16).
- It’s because Jesus Christ has been given full agency and proxy over God’s Breath that the presence of the Holy Breath in our hearts is the equivalency of Jesus Christ: “if so be that the Spirit [Breath] of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit [Breath] of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you” (Rom 8:9-10); “the Spirit [Breath] itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered … It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Rom 8:26, 34); “Now the Lord is that Spirit [Breath]: and where the Spirit [Breath] of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2Co 3:17); “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal 2:20); “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit [Breath] of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (Gal 4:6); “to be strengthened with might by his Spirit [Breath] in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith” (Eph 3:17); “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27).
- Many years after His ascension and seating at the right hand of God, Jesus gave seven messages to seven churches in Asia. He declared “These things saith the Son of God” (Rev 2:18), and concluded each message with, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit [Breath] saith unto the churches” (Rev 2:7, 11, 17, 29, 3:6, 13, 22). He called Himself “the Breath” not just once or twice but seven times!
The doctrine of the Trinity is illogical: the one God consists of three co-equal Persons; Jesus is “God the Son” but also “the Son of God”; Jesus is both a 100% divine being and a 100% human being at the same time; Jesus was eternally begotten; although God can’t be tempted, Jesus is God and was tempted in all points; although God can’t die, Jesus is God and did die.