Building a Firm Foundation
10 According to the grace of God which is being granted to me, as a wise foreman I lay a foundation, yet another is building on it. Yet let each one beware how he is building on it.
11 For other foundation can no one lay beside that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
If we are to be sure we are building on a correct foundation, we ought to study Paul's words carefully and be sure that we are building on the correct foundation, and careful to build correctly as Paul has instructed.
One of the foundational teachings that Christianity adheres to is the teaching of the Trinity. Nowhere in the Bible is this found, neither in the Old Testament or the New. The teaching of the trinity began in largely in 360 AD during the council of Constantinople.
I am going to go through the scriptures that Christianity typically uses to prove the doctrine of the trinity and display how, rather than prove the trinity, it proves exactly the opposite.
John 1:1
In the book of John, John is establishing the credentials of Jesus Christ. To the jewish nation he is identifying him and why they should even pay him any attention at all. To the gentiles, John is showing them who Christ is.
The book begins with
"In the beginning was the Word..."
We can be fairly certain that the Word is not eternal. The definition of eternity means "having no beginning or end". Therefore the Word could not be God the father.
"...and the Word was toward God..."
Again, if the Word was toward God, that means it is seperate from God. Seeking God but it is NOT God.
"...and god was the Word."
When John writes this, he is not giving the Word the being of God, but rather the role of God. Jesus, the Word is the firstborn of all creation. Colossians clarifies this;
Colosians 1:15;
15 Who is the Image of the invisible God, Firstborn of every creature,
16 for in Him is all created, that in the heavens and that on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones, or lordships, or sovereignties, or authorities, all is created through Him and for Him,
17 and He is before all, and all has its cohesion in Him.
Jesus was the firstborn of creation, through him all things were made. Simply put - God is the author, and Jesus the pen through which the entire story of creation has been written. Jesus is the IMAGE of the invisible God - but he is NOT THE invisible God himself. Nowhere in scripture is Jesus declared to be the Father. In every instance, he is described as his "image".
Another word for image is - picture. Jesus is the very picture of God, his only representation because God himself is invisible.
It was through Jesus ALL things were created, this includes Satan, mankind, the earth and everything that exists.
It is easy for religion to confuse Jesus to God the father - but we should never do such. To do so gives us a false understanding of God, misrepresents both him and Jesus and can destroy our entire theology.
John goes on;
"This was in the beginning toward God."
AGAIN he makes a distinction between Jesus and God. John also goes into further detail as we have already sumarized in Colossians 1:15;
3 All came into being through it, and apart from it not even one thing came into being which has come into being.
4 In it was life, and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light is appearing in the darkness, and the darkness grasped it not.
Yet some will say, what of John 8:57-58?
57 The Jews, then, said to Him, "You have not as yet lived fifty years, and you have seen Abraham!"
58 Jesus said to them, "Verily, verily, I am saying to you, Ere Abraham came into being, I am."
To which I answer; what of it? We have already pointed out that Jesus is God's representation. God is invisible, Jesus is not. He has always been the image of the invisible God. Therefore here at the outset, Jesus makes it clear to Israel - their dealings with God the father has ALWAYS been through him as His representative.
Others will point out John 14:9 but let us look at it in context;
5 Thomas is saying to Him, "Lord, we are not aware whither Thou art going, and how can we be aware of the way?"
6 Jesus is saying to him, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one is coming to the Father except through Me.
7 If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. And henceforth you know Him and have seen Him."
8 Philip is saying to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficing us."
9 Jesus is saying to him, "So much time I am with you, and you do not know Me, Philip! He who has seen Me has seen the Father, and how are you saying, 'Show us the Father'?
10 Are you not believing that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The declarations which I am speaking to you I am not speaking from Myself. Now the Father, remaining in Me, He is doing His works.
11 "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me; yet if not, believe Me because of the works themselves.
12 Verily, verily, I am saying to you, he who is believing in Me, the works which I am doing he also will be doing, and greater than these will he be doing, for I am going to the Father.
Again, here Jesus makes a distinction between him and the Father. You cannot come to Father but through Jesus. It would be ridiculous to make such a statement if Jesus were the Father himself. Through would be rendered meaningless if Jesus WERE the Father. As Jesus has said before, he is the image, the representation of the invisible God. We cannot SEE God, but we can know WHO He is by His character, and what He chooses to do. God himself cannot be perceived, but he CAN be known - through Jesus his representative.
Others man be saying "What of him saying "I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?"
To this I will also direct you to Jesus' prayer in the garden of Gethsemane;
John 17:11 Jesus says;
11 And no longer am I in the world, and they are in the world, and I to Thee am coming. Holy Father, keep them in Thy name, in which Thou hast given them to Me, that they may be one, according as We are.
Jesus and the Father are one, in the same way he asks that WE be one with Him. He is not, and never has said that He and God are the same deity. Rather, that He and the Father have always been unified in purpose and passion. Just as he wishes us to be.
John continually makes and effort to distinguish between Jesus and the Father. Continually - he demonstrates the distinctiveness of Jesus apart from the Father in person. Through the book of John and 1 John he uses words that demonstrate this;
John 1:18, John 2:16, John 4:21, John 4:23, John 5:17-23, 5:26, 5:36-37, 5:43, 5:45, 6:32, 6:37, 6:40
1 John 1:2, 1 John 1:3, 1 John 2:1, 1 John 2:22-24, 1 John 4:14
The belief in the trinity is so corruptive that it destroys your entire perspective on the evangel. Your doctrine once corrupted will further cease to make any coherent sense.
If Jesus is God, the one true God, then he is eternal. If he is eternal, then there is no such thing as death for a God such as He. He cannot die, for God is immortal and beyond possibility of death. Death is a cessation from life, entirely. If God were to cease, then all that exist would cease. For even Paul admits in Acts 17:28 that in Him we live and move and have our being.
There is no way that creation can outlast God. Therefore, if Jesus were God - then his death is a sham, and we are still dead in our sins. The entire premise of 1 Corinthians 15 falls apart. For if Christ has not died, then neither has he been raised from death.
I encourage you; study these things and see for yourself what the truth is; do not let I or anyone else tell you what you ought to believe. Such people are easily lead, their faith not being their own but rather on loan from someone else. What a shame, for in buying into the drive thru faith - they never find the bountiful banquet that God has prepared for us if we merely discover his word.
Travis Penner
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