The Fatherhood of God & the Sonship of Christ

A literal or metaphorical relationship?

Father & Son

God, the Father,¹ has a Son,² Jesus Christ, who was His Son in heaven before He was sent to earth.³ In the days of eternity⁴ before the creation of the worlds,⁵ God brought forth Jesus,⁶ who is the wisdom of God.⁷ Thus, by divine inheritance, Jesus has a more excellent name than the angels.⁸

God's Son, Jesus, is divine⁹ and thus rightfully called God.¹⁰ As the sole inheritor of divinity,¹¹ Jesus is equal to His Father in nature, character, and purpose,¹² yet He also acknowledges His Father as His God,¹³ submitting to His higher authority.¹⁴ This hierarchy notwithstanding, the Father stands alone and above all¹⁵ as the one true God.¹⁶

Holy Spirit

By the Holy Spirit we have fellowship with God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.¹⁷ The Holy Spirit is the spirit OF God and the spirit OF Christ,¹⁸ and is often referred to as the “Spirit of God”¹⁹ or as the “Spirit of Jesus”,²⁰ but is never once referred to as “God the Spirit” or God as a distinct person.

By using only scripture as a basis for a definition, the Holy Spirit can be understood as the:

• Breath of God²¹

• Eyes of God via Omnipresence²²

• Mind of God²³

• Omnipresence of God²⁴

• Source of Hope, Joy, Love, and Peace²⁵

• Spoken Word & Creative Power²⁶

but not as a separate coeternal, coequal person.

This is further illustrated by the absence of the Holy Spirit in the salutations of the New Testament epistles, wherein God the Father and Jesus Christ are both introduced/mentioned together.²⁷

Spirit of Christ

As Jesus spoke of Himself, physically, in the 3^rd person,²⁸ so also does He when referring to the Holy Spirit as His own spirit that will be sent.²⁹ The only times when the word “he” is used in reference to the Holy Spirit are when Jesus Himself is speaking.³⁰

Jesus speaks of another Comforter being given,³¹ but this is, in fact, Himself coming to them by His own Spirit. He clarifies this point two verses later by saying that He was to be that coming Comforter.³² Jesus departed in physical form, but He returned in spirit form³³ to be with us always.³⁴ He was with the disciples physically but returned to be in them spiritually.³⁵

Jesus gives us His joy³⁶ and His peace,³⁷ and He gives us these things by His Spirit, the Holy Spirit.³⁸ If we follow Christ, love Him, and keep His commandments, the Father will give us another Comforter.³⁹ Jesus will then manifest Himself to us,⁴⁰ and the Father and the Son will make Their abode with us.⁴¹

Trinity Doctrine

The trinity doctrine of three coeternal, coequal, distinct, and separate beings, yet one God, is a product of the antichrist in that it denies the true Father and Son relationship.⁴² The deception is evident in those who interpret this verse as a warning against denying the existence of the Father and the Son. The real warning is against the denial of the relationship between the Father and the Son.

Jesus was begotten of the Father and thus became His Son.⁴³ A literal and actual Son, and not merely a coequal, coeternal being that is functioning in the role of a son. The trinity doctrine either reduces Christ’s sonship to mere role-play or contradicts itself by claiming He is a literal Son who is begotten, yet not truly begotten in the standard meaning of the word. The trinitarian argument excuses this conflict by saying we cannot understand God's complex nature and must simply accept this contradictory doctrine in faith.

Without a beginning, He cannot be begotten. If He was not begotten, He cannot be a literal son. If He is a literal son, He must have been begotten. If He was begotten, He must have had a beginning. By wrongly defining the Father-Son relationship, the trinity denies both the true God, the Father⁴⁴ and the true Jesus Christ.⁴⁵ Furthermore, it calls God a liar by rejecting the record that He gave His literal, only begotten Son.⁴⁶

Another Jesus, Another Gospel

For more information about who God is according to Scripture, check out Another Jesus, Another Gospel by Bill Pinto, or visit our website at sapphirestone.org.

You can also write to us at hello@sapphirestone.org.

Thanks for reading, and God bless!

Scripture Index

1. Rom 1:7; 1Co 8:6; Gal 1:1; Eph 4:6; Php 2:11; Jde 1.

2. Mat 16:16, 26:63; Mar 5:7; Joh 3:16, 20:31; Act 3:26; Rom 15:6.

3. Pro 30:4; Joh 3:16; Rom 8:3; Heb 1:6.

4. Mic 5:2.

5. Joh 1:3; Heb 1:2, 11:3.

6. Joh 8:42, 16:27-28, 17:8; Pro 8:22-23.

7. 1Co 1:24.

8. Heb 1:4-5.

9. Joh 1:1.

10. Joh 20:28.

11. Joh 10:30, 17:11,21-22.

12. Joh 5:18, Php 2:6.

13. Joh 20:17; 1Pe 1:3; Rev 1:6, 3:12.

14. Joh 14:28; 1Co 11:3.

15. Joh 10:29; Eph 4:6.

16. Deu 6:4; Joh 17:3; 1Co 8:6; 1Ti 2:5.

17. Joh 14:23; 2Co 13:14; 1Jo 1:3.

18. Rom 8:9.

19. Gen 1:2; 1Sa 10:10; Job 27:3; Mat 12:28; 1Co 3:16; Eph 4:30; 1Jo 4:2.

20. Gal 4:6; Php 1:19; 1Pe 1:11.

21. Job 33:4; Joh 20:22.

22. 2Ch 16:9; Psa 11:4.

23. Isa 40:13; Rom 11:34.

24. Psa 51:11, 139:7-9.

25. Rom 5:5, 15:13.

26. Gen 1:2; Psa 33:6,9.

27. Rom 1:7, 1Co 1:3, 2Co 1:2, Gal 1:3, Eph 1:2, Php 1:2, Col 1:2, 1Th 1:1, 2Th 1:2, 1Ti 1:2, 2Ti 1:2, Tit 1:4, Phm 3, Jam 1:1, 1Pe 1:3, 2Pe 1:2, 1Jo 1:3, 2Jo 3, Jde 1, Rev 1:1-2.

28. Mat 13:41, 16:27; Luk 9:58, 17:22, 22:48; Joh 9:35-37, 17:3.

29. Joh 14:16, 16:13.

30. Joh 14:17, 15:26, 16:13.

31. Joh 14:16.

32. Joh 14:18.

33. Joh 14:19-20, 2Co 3:17.

34. Mat 28:20.

35. Joh 14:17.

36. Joh 15:11.

37. Joh 14:27.

38. Rom 15:13.

39. Joh 14:14-16.

40. Joh 14:21.

41. Joh 14:23.

42. 1Jo 2:22

43. Psa 2:7; Heb 1:5.

44. 1Co 8:6.

45. Jde 4.

46. 1Jo 5:10-13.