“Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins.” (NASB without the italicized words)
-John 8:24
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God,
Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
-A section of the Nicene Creed
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Since the time of the Reformation, when the light of religious liberty spread throughout much of the world, many old heresies arose that challenged the modern Church. These heresies included Arianism (i.e. the denial of the full deity of Christ, a denial of the deity of the Holy Spirit, and thus, a denial of the Trinity) and Modalism (i.e. the denial of the distinction between persons of the Godhead; a denial of the Trinity).
In this article, I will prove that the Scriptures teach that Christ is just as much God as is the Father, or in the words of the Nicene Creed, He is of one substance with the Father. I will also deal with the major passages that modern Arians (i.e. Jehovah’s Witnesses, The Way International, The Assemblies of Yahweh, etc.) use. All Bible quotes are from the NASB (emphasis mine):
Old Testament
Many non-Trinitarians claim that Trinitarians can’t go back to the Old Testament to prove their doctrine. Of course, this is absurd. The Old Testament is replete with references to the multi-personal nature of God.
Genesis 19:24
Then the LORD rained on
Commentary:
Here, we have ‘two’ YHWH. One of them was the YHWH who appeared in human form and talked to Abraham on earth, and the other was in heaven. The One on earth called down fire from the One in heaven. There are two YHWH, and yet they are both called YHWH.
Numbers 22:20-22, 35
God came
to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise up and go with them; but only the word which I speak to
you shall you do.” So Balaam arose in the morning, and saddled his donkey and went with the leaders of
Commentary:
God is the One who stated that Balaam would speak only the words that He told him to. Then, when the angel of the LORD appeared,
He told Balaam that he should only speak the words which the angel of the LORD spoke. Here, the text clearly identifies the
“angel of the LORD” as both the One who is sent by YHWH and YHWH himself! So, we have one YHWH sending another YHWH and they
are both the same being! [Note: the word angel merely means messenger. It is used as a title for humans throughout
both the Old and New Testaments. It does not necessarily denote a created spiritual being of immense power such as Gabriel (Luke
Deuteronomy 6:4
“Hear, O
Commentary:
This is a passage frequently used by Unitarians. However, the Hebrew of this passage actually supports the Trinitarian doctrine! David Cooper notes:
“Prior to the days of Moses Maimonides, the unity of God was expressed by [echad] which, as has been proved
beyond a doubt, has as its primary meaning that of a compound unity. Maimonides, who drafted thirteen articles of faith, in
the second one sets forth the unity of God, using the word [yachid] which in the Tenach is never used to express God’s unity. From these facts it is evident that a new idea was injected into this confession by substituting [yachid] which in every passage carries
the primary idea of oneness in the absolute sense for [echad] which primarily means a compound unity. Hence from the days of
Maimonides on, an interpretation different from the ancient one was placed upon this most important passage.”
-David L. Cooper, as found in Robert Morey, The Trinity: Evidence and Issues (Iowa Falls, IA: World Bible Publishers, 1996), p.90.
Deuteronomy 6:4
actually supports the doctrine of the Trinity because its word for “one”, ‘echad’, expresses a compound unity and not an absolute
oneness. This passage implies a doctrine of multiple ‘persons’ within the Godhead rather than Unitarianism. [Note: When Trinitarians use the word ‘person’ in reference to the Godhead, it does not mean the same thing as ‘being’. ‘Person’ is
a Greek word that was used in the early centuries of Christianity to describe the Trinity.]
Judges 6:11-22
Then the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite as his
son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites. The angel of the LORD appeared to
him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O valiant warrior.” Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us,
why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring
us up from
Commentary:
This is probably the clearest identification of the “angel of YHWH” with YHWH Himself. In verse 11, it is the “angel of the
LORD” Who is sitting under the oak tree, and then, in verse 14, the One who is sitting under the tree is identified as the LORD himself! Here, the text clearly identifies the “angel of the LORD” as both the One who is sent by YHWH and YHWH himself!
Judges 13:2-23
There
was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children. Then the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you
shall conceive and give birth to a son.”… God listened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she
was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her… Now the angel of the LORD did not appear to Manoah or his wife
again. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the LORD. So Manoah said to his wife, “We will surely die, for we have seen
God.” But his wife said to him, “If the LORD had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain
offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time.”
Commentary:
Again, the Scriptures describe the “angel of the LORD” as the LORD Himself! He is both the Messenger of YHWH and YHWH Himself! This is exactly what we would expect if God is Trinitarian in nature.
Zechariah 12:1, 10
The burden of the word of the LORD concerning
Commentary:
Here,
YHWH (i.e. Jehovah) clearly states that He is the one who is pierced. In John’s Gospel, John states that this prophecy was fulfilled
by Christ (John
New Testament
Matthew 2:6 à Micah 5:2
Micah 5:2
“But as for you,
Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of
Matthew 2:6
Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people,
he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written
by the prophet: ‘AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME
FORTH A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.’ ”
Commentary:
Matthew identifies Jesus as being the one who fulfilled the prophecy in Micah 5:2. The prophet Micah identifies that the Person
of whom he was speaking was eternal (i.e. He had no beginning). Clearly, he is identifying Jesus with YHWH.
John 1:1
In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Commentary:
See the Anti-Gnosticism section below.
John 5:18
For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because
He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
Commentary:
Obviously, the Jews knew what the title “Son of God” meant. When Jesus said that He was the Son of God, He was clearly saying
that He was not only the messenger of YHWH, but that He was also YHWH Himself.
John 10:30-33
“I and the Father are one.” The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, “I
showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we
do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.”
Commentary:
The Jews clearly knew that “I and the Father are one” meant that Jesus was claiming the title of YHWH, and that is why they were trying
to stone Him.
John 10:38-39
“…but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand
that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp.
Commentary:
Like John 10:30, Jesus is claiming to be of the same
“substance” as the Father. The Jews clearly got what He was saying since they tried to kill Him for blasphemy (i.e. claiming
to be Jehovah).
John 12:39-41 à Isaiah 6:1-5, 10
John 12:36, 39-41
These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from
them…For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, “HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT
THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM.” These things Isaiah said
because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.
Isaiah 6:1-5, 10
In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne,
lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two
he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy,
Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.” And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the
voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! because I am
a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”… “Render the
hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their
ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed.”
Commentary:
John is connecting Jesus to the Being that Isaiah saw in his vision. The Being that Isaiah saw in the vision was YHWH of hosts. Clearly then, the apostle John is identifying Jesus with YHWH (i.e. Jehovah).
John 20:28
Thomas answered and said to Him, “My
Lord and my God!”
Commentary:
Here, we have Thomas calling Jesus
“my Lord and my God!” Jehovah’s Witnesses usually try to get around this passage be saying that Thomas was so shocked at seeing
Jesus that he uttered blasphemy. Of course, Thomas was living in a society where blasphemy was punishable by death! If
his utterance was blasphemy, then we would expect Jesus to rebuke him immediately. However, Christ did not do that, but instead,
he said:
“Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”
-John 20:29
Acts
“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers,
to shepherd the
Commentary:
The text clearly states that God purchased the salvation of the Church with His own blood. The Scripture is equating Jesus with
God.
Romans 9:5
… whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
Commentary:
Paul calls Christ a Jew according to the flesh
and sovereign over all things. The One who is sovereign over all things is “God blessed forever.” Robert Morey comments:
“There
is a clear contrast in the verse between the human and divine natures of the Messiah. He was a Jew according to the flesh. But He was also King of the universe and thus God blessed forever…Paul did not place the word [eulogetos] before the word [theos]
as if he stopped writing and looked up to heaven and exclaimed, “Blessed be God!” Instead Paul put the word “blessed” after
the word “God” and wrote [theos eulogetos]. This means that he is identifying Christ as the God whom we bless.”
-Robert Morey, The Trinity: Evidence and Issues (Iowa Falls, IA: World Bible Publishers, 1996), pp.334-335.
Philippians 2:5-6
Have this attitude
in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing
to be grasped…
Commentary:
Paul is saying that even though Christ
was God, He took on the form of flesh (John
“The verb [uparchon] is a present active
participle and means that Jesus was “the essence of God” not only before His incarnation but after it as well. At no point before
or after His incarnation did Jesus cease to be the essence of God.”
-Robert Morey, The Trinity: Evidence and Issues (Iowa Falls, IA:
World Bible Publishers, 1996), p.336.
Colossians 2:9
For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form…
Commentary:
See the Anti-Gnosticism section below.
Titus 2:13
…looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God
and Savior, Christ Jesus…
Commentary:
This is one of the cases where
the Granville Sharp Rule applies. When two nouns are separated by the word ‘kai’ with the first noun having an article and the
second noun not having one, then both nouns refer to the same person. Paul is calling Jesus “our great God and Savior” which
clearly indicates that He is “of one substance with the Father.”
The Deity of Christ
(Part 1)