In contrast with the doctrine of the Trinity, the Scriptures plainly teach that the Father is greater than the Son, even though they are both deity. Although Jesus is distinct from His Father, the bible says there is one God. This is not only due to their unity, but also due to the commonly ignored doctrine of the supremacy of the Father.
There are only two persons in the Godhead, the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is not a third person but rather refers either to the Spirit of the Son or to that component of the Spirit of the Father that supports Christ's priestly role. Clear Scriptural support for a personhood of the Holy Spirit distinct from that of Father and Son is nonexistent.
The distinction between the Father and the Son before the incarnation is shown in that they had the potential to have separate wills, as Jesus said: I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. (John 6:38)
That Jesus was distinct from His heavenly Father while on earth is clear from the fact that He prayed to His Heavenly Father: Jesus . . . lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee. (John 17:1) Sometimes Jesus spent whole nights in prayer. If He was not talking to Himself then the Father must be distinct from the Son.
The everlasting distinction between the Father and the Son is clear from Colossians 3:1 which says: Christ sitteth on the right hand of God, and also in Daniel 7:13 where speaking of the beginning of Christ's eternal reign it is written: One like the Son of Man (Jesus) . . . came to the Ancient of days (God the Father) . . . there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom.
It is usually taught that the Father and the Son are coequal throughout eternity but that the Son temporarily took on a subordinate role for the thirty or so years while on earth. But this is in error. I will show how the Father has always been and always will be greater than the Son.
This doctrine is stated by Christ when He said: my Father is greater than I. (John 14:28) Jesus never said that this was a temporary truth. So it is most logically interpreted as an eternal truth, and other scriptures show that this is indeed the case. I will examine these chronologically.
That the Father was greater than the Son before the Son descended from heaven, is evident from Christ's words: neither came I of myself, but he (the Father) sent me. (John 8:42) So the Son has, from eternity, been under the command of the Father, who commanded Him to come to earth.
While on earth Jesus was also under the Father's authority as He said: as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. (John 14:31)
When Christ ascended to the right hand of the Father He did not take this honour upon Himself. Rather it was the Father who gave it to Him: The Lord (God the Father) said unto my Lord (Christ), Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. (Psalm 110:1) So even after Christ's Ascension it is the Father who has the ultimate authority. That the most honoured position is at the right hand of the Father, rather than the right hand of the Son, is also implied in this Scripture. (We do not read of the Father sitting at the right or left hand of the Son. This position, which James and John requested, is reserved for men.)
The ultimate authority of the Father in our present time, is also evident from Jesus' words: All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. (Matthew 28:18) Note that Jesus did not say; ‘I have taken all authority’, but rather that it was given to Him. Thus Jesus only has what His Father has given Him, showing us that in this age the Father is greater than the Son. This is also shown most clearly in 1 Corinthians 11:3 where it is written: the head of Christ is God (the Father).
This authority of the Father will endure through the future eternal reign of Christ. It is written: when all things shall be subdued unto Him (the Son), then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him (the Father) that put all things under him. (1 Corinthians 15:28) So throughout eternity the Father is greater than the Son; which is seen, not only by the Son's subjection to the Father, but also in that it is through the power of the Father, that all else is made subject to the Son.
So I have showed that throughout all eternity, past, present and future, the Father is greater than the Son.
We are now ready to see why the bible says there is one God, when there are two who are called God. When the Scriptures speak of there being one God they do so in two different senses: sometimes they speak of the unity between the Father and the Son; and other times they speak of the neglected doctrine of the supremacy of God the Father over all, including His Son.
Regarding the unity between Father and Son, it is written: the Lord our God is one Lord. (Deuteronomy 6:4) James Montgomery Boice says (Foundations of Christian Faith, Leicester, England: Inter Varsity Press, 1986, page 111) ‘the word for "one" is "echad", which means not one in isolation but one in unity. In fact the word is never used in the Hebrew bible of a stark singular entity. It is the word used in speaking of one bunch of grapes, or in saying that the people of Israel responded as one people.’
I believe that the Trinity doctrine over emphasises the oneness of Father and Son, almost to the point of merging their persons. But the word ‘one’ when speaking of one God does not imply this any more than that the nation of Israel was one being. Therefore we need not strain our mind in trying to imagine some mystical union between Father and Son which makes them both two and one at the same time.
But the bible does teach the oneness of Father and Son in several respects: oneness in purpose; oneness in fellowship; and oneness by being of the same nature. And I will examine these.
Regarding oneness of purpose Jesus said: I and my Father are one. (John 10:30) The neuter gender of ‘one’ in this Scripture indicates that Jesus is speaking of oneness of purpose or nature, rather than oneness of being or person. The context in which Jesus was speaking shows that this purpose is that of keeping His sheep; that those in Jesus' hand are also in His Father's hand: neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. (John 10:28,29)
Then there is similarity of nature. Jesus’ Spirit is of identical substance to the Father although temporarily made subject to weakness during His years on earth. Yet even then Jesus retained His perfect character. He could say: he that hath seen me hath seen the Father. (John 14:9)
Finally there is oneness of fellowship. Jesus said: I am in the Father, and the Father in me. (John 14:10) That this does indeed teach oneness of fellowship rather than oneness of being is evident in that Jesus likens His oneness with the Father, to oneness amongst Christians, praying: that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us. (John 17:21)
Although Christians' oneness is modelled on the oneness of fellowship between Father and Son, the oneness of fellowship between Father and Son is surely greater and more perfect than that to which Christians can ever aspire on this earth. Nevertheless it is not a oneness of being or person. They are two persons, who spiritually are of identical essence, and who are united in purpose and fellowship.
The second sense in which the Scriptures say there is one God, is the supremacy of God the Father. Even the Son worships the Father as God, saying: I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. (John 20:17) I believe that it is an eternal truth that Jesus is revealing here; that His Father is always His God, because it seems to be a statement that applies both before and after His Ascension. We should have good reason before classifying any of Jesus' teachings as no longer applicable. One of Jesus' aims was to reveal His Father, and His relationship to His Father. It would seem strange therefore if His teachings about His relationship to His Father no longer applied.
There is however further evidence that the Father is eternally the Son's God. Ephesians 1:3 and 2 Corinthians 11:31, which were written after the Ascension, both speak of: the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. These scriptures speak not of the One who used to be the God and Father of Christ, but rather of the One who still is.
Therefore, God the Father is the God of all: God of angels; God of men; and God of Christ. So there is one supreme God. That this is the reason why many Scriptures say there is one God, is evident from examination of several Scriptures that include the Father but not Christ under the title of the one God. 1 Timothy 2:5 says: there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And 1 Corinthians 8:6 says: there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things . . . and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things. Somewhat weaker support is found in the introduction to many epistles which, like 2 Corinthians 1:2, say: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. These Scriptures, by designating the Father as God and Jesus as Man or Lord, do not deny the deity of the Son. But they do show the supremacy of the Father; that He is the Son's God and that this is why the Father, by Himself, is often called the one God.
Because Christ is from the Father, when we worship Christ as God for His glory and goodness, we are also honouring the Father, for Jesus said: He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent Him. (John 5:23) So it is not as though two Gods are competing. Rather it is that God the Son is glorifying God the Father. This brings unity, and it is a unity of Christ's being under the authority of His Father. Thus there is only one will: the will of the Father, which is done throughout eternity, just as Christ said to His Father: I come . . . to do thy will, O God. (Hebrews 10:7)
Any doctrine making Christ coequal with the Father destroys the oneness brought about by Christ's submission to His Father. Whose will then would be done when there is disagreement. Which God would say as Christ did in the garden of Gethsemane: not my will, but thine, be done. (Luke 22:42) So the coequality doctrine creates a plurality of Gods in contradiction with the Scriptures which teach one God.
The advocates of the Trinity try to get around this problem by suggesting some mystical union of the Father and the Son, but there is no real evidence for this in the Scriptures. As I have shown, some Scriptures, which might seem to support this mystical union, on closer inspection do not.
The words ‘Holy Spirit’ do not refer to a third person of Godhead who floats around semi-distinct from the Father and the Son. Rather I believe that the Holy Spirit is simply a name for that portion of the Spirit of the Father which acts in the agency of supporting the work of the Son.
Let us look first at the meaning of the words ‘The Holy Spirit’. Jesus said: God is a Spirit. (John 4:24) Thus God the Father is a Spirit. According to Revelation 4:8 and Isaiah 6:3 the Seraphim, which are about the throne worshipping God the Father, never cease from saying: Holy, holy, holy. Therefore the most logical description of the Father is ‘The Holy Spirit’. It is also undeniable that the Spirit of Christ could also logically be designated ‘The Holy Spirit’.
So while the words ‘Holy Spirit’ could refer to the Spirit of either of the first two persons of the Godhead, do they? Or do they refer to a third identity? Here we would do well to be guided by the childlike simplicity advocated by our Lord when He said: Except ye . . . become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3) This means one just accepts, and must not devise man made theories about the nature of God.
The Scriptures clearly show two persons in the Godhead: the Father and the Son. There is no Scripture in the whole bible saying there are three persons except that portion of 1 John 5:7 which is omitted in the nearly all ancient Greek manuscripts. This leaves only a few verses of doubtful textual authenticity, such as Matthew 28:19 to support the concept of a Trinity where Jesus says: baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. But even if reliable textually, it does not necessarily teach the nature of the Godhead, but could refer rather to its agency of activity. It need not imply that the Holy Ghost is a separate person to the Father and the Son. It couldperhaps be paraphrased, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son, who both shall presence themselves with you by their Spirit(s).
When Jesus spoke of the Son of man (Matt 12:32) it is understood that He was speaking of Himself. Why then, when He speaks of the Holy Spirit, can He not be speaking of Himself in His spiritual agency, or alternatively of His Father.
It seems far preferable to interpret this Scripture as I have done than to construct a whole edifice of extraordinary doctrine on a possible meaning of a few verses. How can man know there is a third person in the Godhead unless God clearly says so and reveals it by His Spirit through His word: the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 2:11)
While there are no Scriptures clearly saying there are three persons in the Godhead there are Scriptures indicating there are only two. 1 Corinthians 8:6 which sums up the Godhead says: there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things . . . and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things. If the Trinity formulation was correct this verse would need to be rewritten to say: there are three Gods, the Father . . . the Holy Ghost . . . and the Son.
So we see that the deity is revealed to us as a simple Father and Son relationship where the Father is greater than the Son. This is how the Scriptures teach us to think about God. The doctrine of the Trinity, being a man made doctrine, only brings confusion.