Taken from: www.JOHN17-3.ORG - Some editing has been done
The Epistles contain creedal statements where the Apostles speak of Christian beliefs and of Jesus’ relationship to God. Unfortunately for Trinitarians, the biblical creedal statements all distinguish Jesus from God (which is why Trinitarians had to create their own creeds).
1 Timothy 2:5
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1Ti 2:3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,
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1Ti 2:4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
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1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus, -
1Ti 2:6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
Paul says there is one God, and that God is not Jesus. Jesus is the human mediator between God and men (like Moses was). This is why Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophesy Moses made about a man like himself that would be raised up from the people. Paul plainly distinguishes this man Jesus Messiah from the one God of the bible. This is an explicit statement of Christian belief about the relationship between God and Jesus.
1 Corinthians 8:4-6
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1Co 8:4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that "an idol has no real existence," and that "there is no God but one."
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1Co 8:5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth--as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"--
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1Co 8:6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
Paul explains what the Christians believe in contrast to the many
pagan beliefs.
Paul says there is no God but one…for us there
is one God the Father!
Paul says Christians believe
in one God whom is the Father and one Lord Jesus Messiah.
Paul has the perfect opportunity here to explain a trinity. Paul could
have said “yet to us there is one God, eternally existing in three co-equal and
co-eternal persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The idea of a
trinity simply doesn’t exist in the apostle’s doctrine, rather it needs to be
read into the text. Keep in mind that Jesus was made Lord and
Christ by his God and Father (Acts 2:36).
Ephesians 4:4-6
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Eph 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call--
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Eph 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
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Eph 4:6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Paul began each epistle with a greeting from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Messiah. Each epistle distinguishes Jesus from God! Here Paul distinguishes the Lord Jesus Messiah from the one God and Father of all. Notice in each of these texts Paul mentions belief in one God, yet in each text Jesus is distinguished from that one God! How can one maintain that Jesus is God when he is plainly distinguished from the one God of the bible so frequently?
Paul spoke of his God many times …
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Rom 1:7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Rom 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.
Paul identifies the Father as his God who he thanks through Jesus Messiah.
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1Co 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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1Co 1:4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,
Paul distinguishes Jesus from his God explicitly saying he thanks his God for the grace of God given to the Corinthians in Messiah Jesus.
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Php 4:19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
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Php 4:20 To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Paul identifies the Father as his God in distinction from Messiah Jesus. Then praises God the Father as was his custom.
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Phm 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Phm 1:4 I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers,
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Phm 1:5 because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints,
Paul thanks his God, God our Father because of Philemon’s love for the Lord Jesus and all the saints.
Paul’s God was certainly not Jesus, Paul understood Jesus has the same God we do…
Rom 16:27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore
through Jesus Christ! Amen.
Jesus is not “the only wise God”.
Which is why Paul continuously distinguished him from God.
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1Co 3:22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future--all are yours,
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1Co 3:23 and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.
Christ plainly distinguished from God…
1Co 11:3 But I want you to understand that the head of every
man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ
is God.
Paul again plainly distinguishes Christ from God.
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2Co 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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2Co 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
The God and Father of Jesus is the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. Jesus is not “the God of all comfort”.
2Co 5:19 That is, that God was in Christ making peace
between the world and himself, not putting their sins to their account, and
having given to us the preaching of this news of peace.
Is Christ God?
Nope God was IN Christ.
2Co 11:31 The God and Father of the Lord
Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.
Jesus has a God and Father, the Trinitarian distortions of the bible
contradict the plain reading of the texts.
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Eph 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
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Eph 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,
Paul repeatedly distinguishes Jesus from God, in his sermons in the book of Acts, as well as in his letters.
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Php 2:9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
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Php 2:10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
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Php 2:11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Paul loved to emphasize that Jesus is not God. God highly exalted Jesus, this is what Trinitarians do not understand. Jesus is not God, but he was highly exalted by God to God’s right hand. God gave him a name above all names, that all should confess Jesus is Lord, TO THE GLORY OF THE GOD AND FATHER THAT MADE HIM LORD (Acts 2:36).
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Col 1:2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
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Col 1:3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
When Paul speaks of God he is simply speaking of the Father.Every book that Trinitarians desperately search for a proof text in, begins with Jesus being distinguished from God.
Col 2:9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells
bodily,
Yes of course all of the fullness of God was dwelling in Jesus,
because he was the anointed one! Jesus said God the Father was in
him doing the works (John 14:10). In the previous chapter Paul
explains why the fullness of God was in Jesus, and it wasn’t because Jesus is
God…
Col 1:19 God was pleased to have all of himself live in
Christ.
All the fullness was in Jesus because it pleased the
Father.
Paul also said Christians can be filled with
the fullness of God.
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Eph 3:19 You will know Christ's love, which goes far beyond any knowledge. I am praying this so that you may be completely filled with God.
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1Th 1:9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
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1Th 1:10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
Notice Paul says these Thessalonians turned to the living
and true God and they wait for his Son from Heaven. Jesus is not the
living and true God, Jesus is the SON of the living and true
God.
Just like Peter said (Matt 16:16)
Tit 1:1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus
Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the
truth, which accords with godliness,
Paul a servant of God, and an
apostle of Jesus Messiah. Jesus is not God!
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Heb 1:1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
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Heb 1:2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world [ages].
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Heb 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
God spoke in times past by the prophets, but in these last days he
spoke to us by his Son. God spoke by the prophets and the prophets were
not God, God spoke by his Son and his Son is not God either!
Notice Jesus sits next to whom? The Majesty on High!
Jesus is not the Majesty on High. The book of Hebrews goes on to
defend Jesus’ priesthood and covenant being superior to that of the old
covenant. Jesus as High Priest is proof he is not God because the
job of the High Priest is to mediate to God on behalf of his
brothers.
Heb 2:17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in
every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in
the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
Jesus was like his brothers in every respect! Can that be
said of a godman? Jesus is a faithful high priest in service to
God!
Jesus was appointed a High Priest by God.
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Heb 5:4 And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was.
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Heb 5:5 So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, You are my Son, today I have begotten you;
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Heb 5:6 as he says also in another place, You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.
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Heb 5:7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.
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Heb 5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.
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Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,
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Heb 5:10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
Jesus is distinguished from God throughout the book of Hebrews. God appointed Jesus a high priest. What is a high priest you ask? A human that serves God on behalf of other humans!
The writer of Hebrews and Paul weren’t the only apostles that distinguished Jesus from God…
Jas 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.
James was a servant of God (one being) AND of the Lord Jesus Messiah (another being). Keep in mind every time you see Jesus called Lord, that he was made Lord and Christ by his God and Father (Acts 2:32-36).
Jas 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being
tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no
one.
So if God cannot be tempted with evil and Jesus was tempted
with evil, then do the math!
Now some Trinitarians try to
worm their way out of this by pointing to an old testament passage about the
Israelites tempting God. This is true but the tempting being spoken of in
those passages was not God being tempted with evil, but God being
tempted/tested/provoked to anger, in other words they were trying his
patience. In contrast God cannot be tempted/enticed to sin, that is being
tempted with evil. Jesus was tempted in such a manner (Heb 2:18, 4:15,
Luke 4:2).
Peter understood Jesus has the same God we do, look at his sermons in the book of Acts. Also in his epistles he says the same thing…
1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born
again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
John also understood the same thing ...
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1Jn 4:9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
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1Jn 4:10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
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1Jn 4:15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
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1Jn 5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.
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1Jn 5:5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
The Epistles viewed in totality do not support the idea of a 3 person God, nor the idea that Jesus is co-equal and co-eternal with the Father. They repeatedly distinguish Jesus from God. The creedal statements all distinguish Jesus from God (1 Tim 2:5, 1 Cor 8:4-6, Eph 4:4-6). When read with the Unitarian background presented in the Old Testament scriptures and gospel accounts there is certainly nothing in the epistles that would require a redefinition of God from 1 to 3 persons
