Is the True God a Trinity?
Update:
Already for a very long time there exists a big misunderstanding about
the identity of the True God, the YHWH Elohim of the sacred Hebrew Scriptures,
commonly designated as the Tanakh. Really, a
very big misunderstanding: According to the teachings of Christendom, an
apostate counterfeit of true Christianity, and
especially according to the creed of Athanasius,
there would be three divine Persons - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit –
from whom is said
- Each is eternal,
- Each is omnipotent,
- None of them is greater or smaller than the
other,
- Each one is God, and yet together they are only one God.
Other dogmatic explanations emphasize that these three
"persons" are not separate and distinct individuals, but three forms
in which the divine Essence exists.
Incidentally, the Trinity is certainly not a trouvaille
of Christendom. On the contrary, since the founding of the apostate city of
As stated above false doctrines like these
entered Christendom at a very early stage. Already in 57 AD the apostle Paul, Saul of the
tribe Benjamin, predicted the rise of apostate preachers immediately after his
death. During a meeting with the presbyters in the town of
Pay attention to
yourselves and to all the flock among which the holy spirit
appointed you as overseers to shepherd God’s congregation, which he purchaseded with the blood of his own [Son].
I know that after my
going away oppressive wolves will enter in among you, not sparing the flock;
even men will rise from your own circle and speak twisted things to draw the
disciples after them.
Earlier, to the Christians at
For such men are false
apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of [the] Messiah. And no wonder, for Satan
himself masquerades as an angel of light. So it is no
great thing if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Whose end
shall be according to their works.
Since then, the true Christianity changed rapidly into the apostate
Christendom. Unwieldy church systems flourished under the oppressive leadership
of a self-appointed upperclass, the clergy. In a very
short time there arose a class of under-age 'laity'
that was exploited by the ruling clergy for their own purposes. But even worse, the minds of these people were poisoned by
false, God-dishonoring teachings, the main ones
being:
• Man has an immortal soul. • At death that
‘soul’ goes to a shadowy afterlife, or to a fiery, burning hell. • The only true God [John
17:3] would in fact be a triad of three gods: Father, son and holy spirit.
What a difference, therefore, between the apostle of the Gentiles, and
the Pagan oriented clergy of apostate Christendom which also formed ponderous
religious institutions in which no movement to improvement can be obtained, nor
in their dogmatical doctrines.
With regard to the Trinity Yeshua's own
statement [in John 17:3] in itself should give every believer the certainty of
the existence of One true God:
And this is life eternal,
that they might know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Yeshua, [the] Messiah.
Yeshua is YHWH Elohim's Son, not the one true God himself.
Like Moses wrote in Psalm 90, that One true God is from eternity to eternity.
And such things can not be said of the Son. As
strange as it might seem to some, Yeshua is part of Elohim's creation. In his
letter to the Colossians Paul is very clear about that
truth (1:15-17):
He is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, because in him all things were
created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible things; whether thrones
or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created through him
and for him. And he himself is before all things and
all things exist together in him.
The relative pronoun ος [who] connects him who is the image of the invisible God, with the Son of his love (verse 13), in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins
(verse 14).
For Paul, that statement is the starting point for painting the high
position that the Son is occupying within creation.
To appreciate his argument, it is fundamental that we establish in the
first place that the Son himself also belongs to creation, which can be concluded from the fact that he is described as the firstborn of all creation.
How we view πρωτοτοκος, either as first
of all created beings, whether his primacy in dignity and eminence above
all other created things, the fact remains that he is part of YHWH Elohim's
creation.
Compare: Ex
4:22 and Ps
89:27.
Compare also Revelation 3:14, where the glorified Yeshua himself -
walking in the midst of the seven candlesticks (the sevenfold Jewish End-time
community) – declares: These
are the things that the Amen is saying, the faithful and true witness, the
beginning of the creation by God.
However, as Elohim's first creation, he is at the same time also his
principal creation, even to the extent that he was made
after the image of God, or as the
apostle wrote elsewhere: existing in Elohim's
form (Fp 2:6), referring to his pre-existence.
In Colossians 1 however, the apostle also revealed something very
special about him: In him
all things were created in heaven and on earth… all things were created through
him and for him.
In him indicates that all creation is inextricably linked with his person. Without him nothing at all would be created. All things are existing together in him.
The Son of God's love is not only the one through whom Elohim really brought
forth all the rest of creation, but the continued existence of that creation is
entirely dependent on him too.
In direct connection with this, the Son therefore is the ultimate goal
of creation, for all things are not only through
him [δι αυτου], but also for him [εις αυτον] created. How could these things
happen?
Of course, YHWH Elohim knows himself perfectly; his essence is nothing
strange to him, unlike us, humans. With some scare we may sometimes observe
what kind of things seem to live deep within us; but not so with God, he
fathoms himself completely (1 Cor 2:10-11).
Consequently, he was able to ‘produce’ his firstborn Son in such a way
that in him his own being became
fully visible, reflected as it were; a true image as
it were.
Accordingly, in that pre-existent Son, the Father saw the created things
in rudimentary element present. This explains why God at the end of the Sixth
day of creation [or period] could say, Let us
make man in our image, according to our likeness (Gen 1:26).
Elohim himself, personally, could have proceeded to that action, but
that did not belong to his purpose. Through the agency of his Son the creation would come into existence, because in him all things had to be brought forth.
According to Saul of Benjamin in his writings to the Corinthians, Yeshua
the Messiah is Elohim's power and
Elohim's wisdom (1 Cor 1:24). Therefore, in
Proverbs 8:22-31, it does not astonish us hearing him speaking as the
personified Wisdom, telling the reader how he, the Son, found great pleasure in
accomplishing Elohim's allocation. Nevertheless, he still gave all the glory to
his Father, YHWH Elohim, for all the wonderful works of creation
which he was allowed to bring forth on behalf of Him:
“Yahweh
acquired
me [as
the] beginning
his way, before his works of old. From everlasting, I was set
up, from beginning, from aforetime [the] earth. When [there were] no deeps, I was
brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding
with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I
brought forth… Then I became master-workman by his side. I was a delight day
by day, always rejoicing before him, rejoicing in the productive land of his
earth; and the things I was fond of were with the sons of men”.
So, in his pre-existence the Son existed in Elohim's form,
being from everlasting, from the
beginning, as is confirmed for us in the well known announcement of
Micah 5:2 >> But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being small among the clans of Judah, out of you
one will come forth to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.
In that godly form
he was not the second person within a supposed trinity, equal to Elohim, his
Father. Of course not! How could the apostle else have
written that he, the son, in that capacity, did
not consider a robbery to be equal with Elohim!
No! He did quite the opposite, as the apostle goes on further: He emptied himself and took a slave’s form and came to be in
the likeness of man!
How could such a thing happen?
The man Luke has, by divine inspiration and probably also by the oral
testimony of Mariam, recorded that wonderful
transition. Given the way the angel Gabriel was used
by YHWH Elohim in the days of the prophet Daniel, it does not at all surprise
us that, around 4006 AM, this divine messenger was sent to
In
the sixth month [of the pregnancy of her cousin Elizabeth who would give birth to John, Yeshua's predecessor who would introduce him to Israel] the angel Gabriel
was sent forth from God to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a
virgin who was promised in marriage to a man named Joseph, of the house of
David; and the virgin's name: Mariam.
And after entering before her, he said: Rejoice,
highly favored one, the Lord is with
you. However, she was deeply disturbed about the word and she wondered
what a greeting this might be. And the angel said
unto her: Have no fear, Mariam, for you have found favor with God, and behold, you will conceive
in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall call his name
Yeshua. This one will be great, and will be called Son of the Most High, and the
Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over
the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end of his kingdom.
Mariam said unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing
I know not a man? And in response, the angel said to her: Holy spirit will
come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; for that
reason also what is born will be called holy, God’s Son.
And behold, Elizabeth,
your relative, even she has become pregnant a son in her old age; and this
is for her who was called barren [the] sixth month, because with God no saying will
be an impossibility.
Now Mariam said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord, may it be done with me according to your
pronunciation. And the angel departed from her.
Mariam understood very well what kind of
assignment she received from God and that it would not be an easy
one. Rather, she must have realized that on the part of men - who were not
well informed, which incidentally could not be -
difficulties were to expected. Her premarital pregnancy would undoubtedly
be misinterpreted and give her the disapproval of the people around her.
But as Hanna [Elohim’s ‘âmâh], another nameless one, Mariam
showed herself fully prepared to subject herself as God's slave to his counsel
(1
Sam 1).
For the members of Elohim's true
Thus,
Now
in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being
governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip
tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias
tetrarch of Abilene, in the high priesthood of Annas
and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son
of Zacharias, in the wilderness. He came into all the region around the
Very remarkable how Luke precisely locates
John's ministry with regard to time! That provides us much certainty about the
calendar dates regarding Yeshua's own service which
started six months later, therefore, in autumn of the year 29 AD, and then took
3½ years, coming to an end with his sacrificial death on Nisan 14 of the year
33 AD.
Incidentally, five days before that event, on Sunday 9th of Nisan, at
his royal entry into
And after the 62
sevens Messiah will be cut off and nothing for him. And the
people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the
sanctuary.
(Dn 9:26)
The King came indeed to his royal capital, but the city with its
population - led by their religious leaders - had no regard for him nor for the
things which had to do with peace and salvation.
In the person of his Son Elohim YHWH was looking in favour to them, but that important fact was not distinguished by them. On the
contrary, only a few days later the euphoria of
the common people turned and at the insistence of the religious elite, the
death of their Messiah was demanded, by which, however, Isaiah 53 was
fulfilled:
He was despised, and
rejected by men; a man of suffering, and acquainted with disease: and as one
from whom men hide their face he was despised; and we didn’t
respect him. Surely he has borne our
sickness, and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued,
struck by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our
transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought
our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep
have gone astray; everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. It pleased Yahweh to bruise him; he has put him to
grief: when you shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall
see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Yahweh
shall prosper in his hand.
So, on the 14th Nisan of the year 33 AD he
was cut off, then without receiving anything that could be expected on the
ground of his royal entry:
● the sceptre that would not give way
from Yehudah;
● his installation as Elohim’s
king in
● the obedience of the nations (Gn 49:10; Ps 2:6-8; 45:6 ; Dn 7:13-14, 27).
After he, who was a complete and perfect man,
had brought the atoning sacrifice of his own life on earth, and then returned
to the presence of his Father in heaven - because that One had raised him to be
again a spiritual son – the apostle described him as the reflection of [his] glory and the exact representation of his
[God's] very being (Hebrews
1:3).
So, also after his resurrection and return to life in the heavens, the
Son is still not God, but the exact imprint of
his very being.
An argument of decisive importance, but not recognized by nearly all of
the exegetes, is Paul's explanation that he provided in 1Tim
2:5-6 on the true value of Yeshua’s ransom:
For there is one God,
also one Mediator of God and people, man Mashiach Yeshua, who gave himself as a
corresponding ransom for the benefit of all, the testimony for specific ages.
For the corresponding ransom,
in the sacred Greek Scriptures the unique word αντιλυτρον is used, referring to the
(also unique) form of mediation whereby the break with God
- that was created by Adamitic sin - could be undone; yes, even
completely could be restored!
In view of God's standard of perfect justice, that breach could only be
bridged by redemption. A ransom would have to be paid, a phenomenon about which
we, in modern times, also hear a great deal about, but then often in connection
with kidnappings and hostage taking. Release and preservation of life will then
mostly occur if a certain amount of money is paid.
However, since in Adam perfect human life with eternal outlook had been
lost, humankind could only be set free from sin and its evil effects, if there
could be provided a ransom of corresponding value: Perfect human life; no less,
but also no more!
Already in the Mosaic Law, that divine righteous principle was thus laid
down Soul for soul, eye for eye, tooth for
tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot (Ex
21:23, Dt 19:21).
However, later on, in Psalm 49:6-9, David would write that there was no
one among humankind who could pay such a ransom:
Those who trust in
their wealth, and boast in the multitude of their riches— none of them can by
any means redeem his brother, nor give God a ransom for him. For the redemption of
their life is costly, no payment is ever enough, that
he should live on forever, that he should not see corruption.
And here it is also where the human Mashiach
Yeshua comes into the picture as the only suitable Mediator between YHWH Elohim
and man, he who gave himself as a corresponding ransom for the benefit of all.
Since the ransom, in terms of value, was to be in balance with Adam in
his perfect state, that requirement disproves the view that is
celebrated in the vast majority of Christendom, namely that Yeshua on
earth was both God and man. If Yeshua were really a god-man, the ransom would
have far surpassed in value that which was to be redeemed:
Perfect human life.
At his creation, the first Adam became a
living soul (Ge 2:7). Consequently, Yeshua, as the last Adam, poured out his soul into death
in order to provide an equivalent ransom (Isa 53:12). Only after his resurrection he became a life-giving spirit (1Co 15:45).
In principle, his ransom had so much power that all Adamites
could be redeemed. In one single act, by offering
himself to God as a sacrifice, the Son of God settled sin forever. That
sacrifice was so effective that it did not have to be
repeated from year to year, as was the case with the animal sacrifices
within the requirements of the Thorah in
Compare Hebrews
9:24-28.
When God's Son on earth died vicariously for all Adamitic humankind, the
judgment that rested upon her in Adam was in principle taken away from her. Indeed, in principle, because we also know in advance that not all
the living will avail themselves in belief and in great gratitude of that
divinely given provision. Though available to all, not all will receive
life through it.
In that knowledge Yeshua therefore said the following about himself: Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to
serve, and to give his soul as ransom [λυτρον and not αντιλυτρον] in
exchange for many (Mat 20:28).
-.-.-.-