Trinity DebateScriptures that disprove the Trinity ignored or rationalized(John 17:3 represents the primary proof text that Anti-trinitarians use to teach Jesus is a creature and trash the trinity. John 17:3 is to a Jehovah’s Witness, what John 3:16 is to a Christian!) What John 17:3 is saying: While Jesus walked the earth, he took off the outward robes of deity and put on the robes of a servant. (Phil 2:6-8 + John 13:3-20) Jesus on earth was still "very God" or the "only true God" but he took on a new role of a servant where all His efforts was to direct people to the Father as God and not to Himself. He humbled Himself, avoiding the glory of being God on earth and directing it to the Father alone. In the midst of Jesus' final prayer in the garden just prior to his arrest, we see that such submission was not merely a show while in the presence of man, but a true to the heart submission to the Father. Jesus was not denying he was the "only true God", but was praising the Father as such. the very next words after this verse are: "I glorified Thee on the earth … now glorify me". Jesus would not sing his own praises! In very simple terms, if Jesus addressed someone else as "man", that does not mean Jesus himself was not a man. Jesus was not creating a point of distinction between Himself and the Father in the expression, "only true God", but between the Father and any other "so called god" like idols. Jesus had lived among the Romans with their many competing gods and Jesus was addressing the Father with these idols in mind. What John 17:3 is not saying: The quickest way to see the mistake in the Jehovah’s Witness interpretation of John 17:3 is in Eph 4:4-6. ("there is one God and one Lord") If "One God" excludes Jesus from God, then "One Lord" excludes God from being Lord. Yet we know that they share these identical characteristics. Jehovah is not only called the Only true God (John 17:3), but the "Only Saviour" (Isa 43:11; 45:21; Hos 13:4; Jude 25) , "Only King" (Zech 14:9). If John 17:3 excludes Jesus from being "True God", then Jesus is also excluded from being a Saviour or King. Conversely, Jesus is called the "Only Teacher, (Matt 23:8,10, Mt 10:24 and Jn 13:13), "Only Master" (Jude 4, 2 Peter 2:1), and "Only Lord" (Jude 4, Eph 4:4, 1 Cor 8:4,6, Mt 6:24). If John 17:3 excludes Jesus from being "True God", then the Father is also excluded from being our Teacher, Master or Lord. False Arian argument stated: It is obvious that Jesus and the Father are not the same person, but two distinct persons. Therefore Jesus is not God. The fact that the Father is the "only true God", excludes Jesus as being the "only true God". |
🌈Pride🌈 goeth before Destruction
When 🌈Pride🌈 cometh, then cometh Shame