Biblical & Theological Issues

The following provides a brief response to the misuse of Scriptures by those who deny the trinity and the deity of Christ. We are instructed to “be able to teach” and to correct their errors (2 Timothy 2:24-25).

Error: Deniers of Christ’s deity point to passages that appear to make Jesus less than God, such as Colossians 1:5 where Jesus is called the “first born of all creation”; and Revelation 3:14 where Jesus calls himself, “the beginning of the creation of God”; and John 14:28 where Jesus says that “the Father is great than I” (John 14:28).

Response: When Jesus said “the Father is greater than I,” he was speaking of his positional place of humility and submission (Phil. 2:6-7). When a woman defers or submits to her husband, she does not cease to be 100% human by nature. Likewise, Christ is not less than fully God because he submits to his Father’s will. Also, the word for “greater” here is meizon which means “elder” or “higher degree,” instead of the word kreitton which means “better.”

In Colossians 1:15, the term “first-born” does not mean literally the first one physically born. In the Old Testament, “first-born” can also refer to positional preeminence or rank. David was called God’s “first-born” (Psalm 89:27) yet he was the youngest brother. Also, Ephraim was called God’s “first-born” over Manassah (Gen. 41:51; cf. Jer. 31:9). The context of Colossians 1:15-18 reinforces that Jesus is the Creator of all things (v. 16), and is also the “first-born from the dead” (v. 18). This obviously means that Jesus has preeminence over all things, living and dead.

Also in Revelation 3:14, the word “beginning” (arche) means “that [from] which everything begins to be, the origin, active cause, first cause” (Thayer Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament, p. 77).

Error: Skeptics refer to other passages that they claim prove Jesus is subject to the Father and therefore not equal: 1 Corinthians 11:3 (God is the head of Christ); 1 Corinthians 15:28 (Christ is subjected to God): John 17:3, 20:17 (Jesus calls the Father the only God, His God); and that Jesus was not all knowing (Mark 13:22).

Response: All of these verses fall in line with the triune nature of the Godhead and the dual nature of Jesus Christ in the incarnation (Phil. 2:6-7). Subjection has to do with patterns of authority, not essential nature or essence—like the role and nature of husband and wife mentioned earlier. Regarding Mark 13:32, the Word (the second Person of the Godhead) took to Himself a human nature in the incarnation (John 1:1, 14) and voluntarily lived through His human nature in submission to the divine nature (Phil. 2:6-7; John 8:28, 12:49, 14:10). So in his human nature he did not know the day of the final judgment. But he also at times demonstrated his divine attributes of omnipotence (Phil. 3:21; Rev. 1:8, 21:5-7; Matt. 14:22-32, 28:18); being the Creator (Matt.14:13-21, 15:32-38; John 1:3; Col. 1:16); omnipresence (Matt. 18:20; 28:20; Eph. 1:23); and eternality (Isa. 9;6; Micah 5:2; John 8:35; Heb. 13:8).