You know how I am about consistency of scripture. Yes?
Jesus repeatedly said that He came to do His Father’s will (Jn 4:34; 5:30; 6:38), spoke only what the Father commanded Him to say (Jn 12:49–50), and did nothing of His own initiative (Jn 5:19). He prayed to the Father as the one who sent Him (Jn 17:3, 8, 25) and referred to the Father as “greater than I” (Jn 14:28).
Those verses simply show that Jesus as a man was teaching us how our responsibility to God should take form. When he showed us that he was a man, he did the Father's will, he spoke what God said, he prayed to God, etc. God is greater than any man. Jesus as a man does not alter this:
Philippians 2:5-8
You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had,
6 who though he existed in the form of God
did not regard equality with God
as something to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself
by taking on the form of a slave,
by looking like other men,
and by sharing in human nature.
8 He humbled himself,
by becoming obedient to the point of death
—even death on a cross!
Even Paul in describing how Jesus became a man, refers to us: we should have the same attitude. Jesus is our model when he shows his manhood.
But we see here in Philippians that Jesus "existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God" as his, as a man. He "emptied himself" to become a man.
Jesus for who he is
But who is Jesus?
John 1:1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God. 2 The Word was with God
in the beginning. 3 All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been
created.
This, point blank, tells us that he is God, and that he is one with God.
Jesus is God -- One God, the Trinity
Later in John's Gospel:
John 10:30
I and the Father are one.
I take this literally.
Colossians 2:9
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.
The "fullness of the Deity" -- not just the Son part of it. All of it. Why? Because Jesus is One God with the Father and Spirit.
When we talk about the Spirit, we see:
1 Corinthians 12:4-6
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit… the same Lord… the same God…
Gifts of the Spirit, but One Spirit, Same Lord, Same God.
One God. This is the substance of the Trinity. It is not a concept, it is the reality of the Godhead.
*** And again, all scripture must agree. So all verses showing Jesus in manhood (teaching us how we should be) does not deny that Jesus is God, and as God he is One with the Father and the Spirit ***
1 John 5:7
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are
one.
Three. And these three are One.
Not symbolism. Not metaphor. Not conceptual.
It's real.
Let's talk about Authority
This brings up another very important point:
Matthew 16:18-19
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not
overpower
it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in
heaven, and
whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.
We tend to push this aside because of what the Catholics have done to this teaching.
Jesus instituted the Church on himself, the Rock, the cornerstone. But he gave the keys to understanding to the Chruch, to the men within the Church.
Jesus did NOT set up a Church of individualism. He did not say that whatever anyone wants to believe from his Word will hold for that person (with many details that could be discussed here regarding rules and sin).
But he gave authority to the Church -- meaning the leadership within the Church. And because we are men, we can make mistakes, as many in Church history have done. But this is not a license to go off on our own.
1 Timothy 3:15
…the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
The Church holds the truth of the scripture. We are not to add to it; we are not to subtract from it. So while a word like "Trinity" may not be within scripture, the concept certainly is. While a word like "Rapture" is not in scripture, the concept (and a Greek word for that) certainly is. Obviously the Catholic teachings on Mary are not in scripture. In this type we know when certain leaders are ... deviating.
Hebrews 13:17
Obey your leaders and submit to their authority… they keep watch over you as those who must give an account.
The Church holds the keys. All the body is to hold their hands to the fire to ask questions about interpretation. And there are many, various interpretations about different things.
So, for instance, Arminians, Calvinists, Evangelicals, Fundamentalists, Amillennials, Dispensationalists, whatever... These are all different interpretations upon the Word of God.
WITHIN the Church, they are all accepted as being within the mainstream Christian thought, even with their stark differences. While "churches" such as LDS, JWs, Catholics, and even looking out to Muslims, Hindus, etc, can be seen to be outside the Church because they teach many things that are simply not in scripture.
Now, back to the "within the Church" teachings. When we are WITHIN the Church, we are to accept what the Church teaches: you are not so special that you can upend 2000 years of Church history -- of Church binding and loosing. Don't be a Joseph Smith.
The concept of the Trinity is in the bible. It was taught from the very beginning. The term "Trinity" was coined in 180AD (the Greek word Τριάς, Trias). It has been accepted within all denominations of the Church to the point of being essential doctrine to the Church.
This is not the hill to die on. This is not the term to toss out -- of ALL the various terms that we use in Christianity that do not have a word in the bible. We should not be leaning so hard on a "word." We should be leaning on the teaching of scripture: and if we have to coin a "word" to represent the teaching that takes many, many more words to describe, then so be it.....
...if the Church has decided that this is the way that we should talk, understand, reason.
We can have differences on doctrines that do not take away from the theology of the Church, but we are to be a member of the Church. Each with ideal function.
Jesus delegated his authority to the leaders of the Church:
Luke 10:16
Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me…
We are to be one within the Church. We are not to be lone wolves with our own teachings.
2 Peter 1:20–21
No prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation…
(Prophecy, of course, is not speaking of future-telling, but rather proclaiming God's truth under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is about rightly dividing the Word.)
Biblical truth is not limited to biblical vocabulary. We often uses extra-biblical words—like Trinity, incarnation, hypostatic union—not to add to Scripture, but to clarify and safeguard what Scripture teaches. These terms are like theological shorthand: they distill complex, scripturally grounded truths into precise language that helps prevent misunderstanding.
Even the word Bible isn’t in the Bible. Nor are omnipotence, monotheism, or sovereignty. Yet they help us speak clearly about what Scripture reveals.