First of all, Jesus said He was God. That trumps anything else.
Secondly, Paul states in 2 Corinthians WHY Jesus was referred to as simply a man sometimes: "So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (5:16-17)
Nor does one have to believe in the Trinity or understand it to be saved, but one most certainly does have to acknowledge Jesus Christ as God and submit entirely to Him to be born again and indwelt by the Holy Spirit in order to be saved. To say that Jesus is not God is to deny the entire Bible, actually.
To say that a simple man had/has the power to forgive sins is the same nonsense we see in the Catholic church. Jesus forgave sins against God. How dare He do that unless He was God Himself in the flesh.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us...and, you will find in the Greek, not that the Word was God, but rather the reverse: God was the Word.
And unless you are accusing Paul of being polytheistic, he most certainly presented the Trinity
1. "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freesom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being translformed into his likeness with ever -increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:17-18
2. "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you -- unless, of course, you fail the test?"
2 Corinthians 13:5
3. Please cross reference the above with Romans 8:9: "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit ofChrist, he does not belong to Christ."
4. "For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakend by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering." Romans 8:3. God SENT His Son, which means that the Son was already with the Father before the Incarnation. But, Hear O Israel, the Lord thy God, the Lord is ONE.
5. "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." 2 Corinthians 13:14
6. "I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, But Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20
7. Please cross reference that with the famous words Jesus spoke:
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, who whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
The God who loved the world is identified as Christ by Paul in Galatians 2:20
8. "What then was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions untl the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one."
Galatians 3:19-20
Why would Paul make a point of saying God is one unless it was to eliminate confusion about the mediator being anyone else but Him?
9. "For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name." Ephesians 3:14-15 And we are CHRISTians.
10. "What does 'he ascended' mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe."
Ephesians 4:9-10
11. "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."
Ephesians 4:22-24
12. Please cross reference eleven with the following:
"For those whom God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son." Romans 8:29
I could keep going through book after book. There is no doubt that Paul knew the Trinity and preached accordingly.
But again, Jesus' claim is what we must pay attention to. He claimed to be God. The Jews understood that and tried to stone Him for heresy. But either Jesus was right, a liar, or a lunatic. He was not nice man, or even simply a holy man. He did not leave us that option.
Since I am quite sure you did not read the link I posted, here is some material from it:
Revelation 1:7-8 Jesus was the Almighty.
Genesis 17:1 And the Almighty was God.
John 8:58 Jesus was the "I Am"
Exodus 3:14 and the "I Am" was God
Acts 3:14 Jesus was the "HOLY ONE"
Isaiah 43:15 and the "HOLY ONE" was God
John 8:24 Jesus is the "I Am He"
Isaiah 43:10 and the "I Am He" was God
Revelation 22:13 Jesus is the "First and the Last"
Isaiah 44:6 and the "First and the Last" was God
I Corinthians 10:4 Jesus was "The Rock"
Psalm 18:31 and "The Rock" was God
II Corinthians 11:2 Jesus was the "One HUSBAND"
Jeremiah 31:32 and the "One HUSBAND" was God
Matthew 23:8 Jesus was the "ONE MASTER"
Malachi 1:6 and the "ONE MASTER" was God
John 10:16 Jesus was the "One SHEPHERD"
Isaiah 40:11 and the "ONE SHEPHERD" was God
Acts 4:12 Jesus was the "ONE SAVIOR"
Isaiah 45:21 and the "ONE SAVIOR" was God
Luke 1:68 Jesus was the "ONE REDEEMER"
Isaiah 41:14 and the "ONE REDEEMER" was God
Revelation 19:16 Jesus was "LORD OF LORDS
1 Timothy 6:14 Jesus was "LORD OF LORDS
Deuteronomy 10:17 and the "LORD OF LORDS" was God
Philippians 2:10 Every knee must bow to Jesus
Isaiah 45:23 Every knee must bow to God
John 1: 3-10 Jesus was the "ONE CREATOR"
Isaiah 44:24 Jesus was the "ONE CREATOR"
Genesis 1:1 and the "ONE CREATOR" was God
John 1:49 Jesus was "KING OF ISRAEL"
Isaiah 44:6 and the "KING OF ISRAEL" was God
Deuteronomy 4:35 The Lord He is God, there is NONE else beside him
Deuteronomy 4:39 there is None Else
Deuteronomy 6:4 the Lord our God is ONE Lord
Deuteronomy 32:39 I even I, am He and THERE IS NO GOD WITH ME
1 Kings 8:60 The LORD is God - There is None Else
2 Kings 19:15 You ALONE are the only true God
Psalm 86:10 You are God, YOU ALONE
Isaiah 42:8 I am Jehovah, and to no one else shall I give my own glory
Isaiah 43:10,11 Before me there was no God formed
NEITHER SHALL THERE BE AFTER ME. I, EVEN I AM THE LORD:
AND BESIDE ME THERE IS NO SAVIOR.
Isaiah 44:6 I AM THE FIRST, AND THE LAST: AND BESIDE ME THERE IS NO GOD
Isaiah 45:5 I am the Lord, and there is NONE ELSE, THERE IS NO GOD BESIDE ME
Isaiah 45:6 There is NONE beside Me. I am the Lord and there is NONE else.
Isaiah 45:15 you are a God, the /god of Israel, a Savior.
Isaiah 45:22 turn to me and be saved. For I am God, and there is no one else
Isaiah 48:11 I will not give my glory unto another.
Isaiah 45:5
Isaiah 48:12 I am he, I am the first, I also am the Last. Revelation 1:8
Hosea 13:4 I am Jehovah your God, there was no God except me, and there was no savior but I.
Joel 2:27 I am your God, and None Else
Zechariah 14:9 In that day shall there be ONE LORD AND HIS NAME ONE
Philippians 2:11 that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the Glory of God the Father
Matthew 23:9 For one is your Father, the heavenly one
Mark 12:29 Jehovah our god is one Jehovah
**************
The Scriptures tell us that only God is permitted to receive worship (see Matt 4:10; Luke 4:8; Ex 20:2-5)
Yet Jesus receives worship:
"Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, 'Do you believe in the Son of Man?' He answered, 'Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?' Jesus said to him, 'You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.' And he said, 'Lord, I believe.' And he worshiped Him." (John 9:35-38).
"When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, 'You are certainly God's Son!'" (Matt 14:32-33).
"And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, 'And let all the angels of God worship Him.'" (Heb 1:6).
We see that the angels of God refuse worship:
"Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, 'Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.'" (Rev 19:10). See also Rev 22:8-9.
Jesus is declared to be God:
"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil 2:5-11).
An interesting note here is the Paul stating that "bestowed on Him the name which is above every name." YHWH is referred to as "the Name" (Hebrew, "hashem"). To say that Jesus is above every name can only mean one thing to a Jew like Paul. Only one name is above every name and that is hashem (YHWH). Thus, Paul has unmistakably referred to Jesus as YHWH.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.... And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:1-3,14). Note how John 1:1 parallels Genesis 1:1. The parallel is intentional to show that Jesus is the Creator God of Gen 1:1.
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities -- all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." (Col 1:15-17).
"For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form" (Col 2:9).
"looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus" (Titus 2:13).
Jesus is given the same titles and attributes as YHWH. Below are several parallels. For each attribute there are two sets of references. The first reference set is to Jesus and the second is to YHWH in the Hebrew Scriptures: (from The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell)
Creator: John 1:3 (Jesus); Isa 40:28 (YHWH)
Savior: John 4:42 (Jesus); Isa 45:22; 43:11 (YHWH)
Raise the dead: John 5:21 (Jesus); I Sam 2:6 (YHWH)
Judge: John 5:27; Matt 25:31-46 (Jesus); Joel 3:12 (YHWH)
Light: John 8:12 (Jesus); Isa 60:19-20 (YHWH)
"I AM": John 8:58; 18:5,6 (Jesus); Ex 3:14 (YHWH)
Shepherd: John 10:11 (Jesus); Ps 23:1 (YHWH)
Glory of God: John 17:1,5 (Jesus); Isa 42:8; 48:11 (YHWH)
First and last: Rev 1:17; 2:8 (Jesus); Isa 41:4; 44:6 (YHWH)
Redeemer: Rev 5:9 (Jesus); Hosea 13:14 (YHWH)
Bridegroom: Rev 21:2; Matt 25:1ff (Jesus); Isa 62:5; Hosea 2:16 (YHWH)
Rock: I Cor 10:4 (Jesus); Ps 18:2 (YHWH)
Forgiver of sins: Mark 2:7,10; Jer 31:34 (YHWH)
Worshiped by angels: Heb 1:6 (Jesus); Ps 148:2 (YHWH)
Addressed in prayer: Acts 7:59 (Jesus); throughout Hebrew Scriptures (YHWH)
Creator of angels: Col 1:16 (Jesus); Ps 148:5 (YHWH)
Confessed as Lord: Phil 2:11 (Jesus); Isa 45:23 (YHWH)
Because of who Jesus is (i.e., YHWH) then we are to give Him the proper respect and worship He deserves.