Colossians 2:8-10 says that Christ is the fullness of the Deity. Does this prove the Trinity?
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
Do you believe that this scripture shows us that Jesus is the Almighty God ? If so, then to be fair and consistent, you would have to believe that we are Christ because it says that Jesus is the fullness of the Deity Or Godhead and we have been given fullness of Christ. No one uses this verse to say that we are Christ, but many use it to say that Jesus is the Almighty God.
What Colossians is saying is that the divine nature of God is in it’s fullness in Christ just as our filling is Christ. It is not saying that Christ is that God from which all divinity originates, nor is it saying that we are Christ.
Here is the definition of of the word ‘deity’ in Colossians 2:8-10:
Transliteration: theotes {theh-ot’-ace} (2320)
Word Origin: from 2316 (theos)
Part of Speech: noun feminine
Usage in the KJV: Godhead
Meaning: divinity, godhead
Now look at Romans 1:20
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
So we can see that God has the following attributes: He has divine nature;
He has invisible qualities;
He has eternal power.
Here is the definition of ‘divine’ in Romans 1:20:
Transliteration: theiotes {thi-ot’-ace} (2305)
Word Origin: from 2304 (divinity).
Part of Speech: noun feminine
Usage in the KJV: Godhead
Meaning: divinity, divine nature
2 Peter 1:4 also uses the same word ‘divine’.
Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
So we can participate in the divine nature. Therefore:
are we God?
are we invisible?
do we have eternal power?
No we are not God (we are gods). We have not lived forever in the past and we are certainly not invisible. But we will share in God’s nature and yet we will not be God himself. We will be like him as we are images and we are his sons. So to have divine nature doesn’t make anyone God himself. Now have a look at Christ. He is greater than us, but his Father is greater than him. So he is between us and God.
1 Corinthians 11:3
Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
Also as mentioned before John 1:1 shows us that the Word is not God himself but that the Word is like God. This is because John 1:1c doesn’t have an article preceeding the last word God. Therefore rather than talking about a person it is talking of a quality because the word “god” without the article is an adjective not a noun like the other instances of the word “God”in John 1:1.
Here is how Hippolytus (ca. 230 A.D) puts it.
The first and Only, both Creator and Lord of all, had nothing coeval with Himself… He was One, Alone in Himself…. this Solitary and Supreme Deity, by an act of reflection, brought forth the Word first, not the Word in the sense of being expressed by voice, but as a Reason of the cosmos, conceived and residing in the Divine mind. Him alone He produced from existing things, for the Father Himself constituted existence, and the being born from Him was the cause of all things that are produced. The Word was in the Father Himself, bearing the will of his Progenitor, and not being unacquainted with the mind of the Father. For simultaneously with his procession from His Progenitor, inasmuch as he is this Progenitor’s firstborn, he has, as a voice in himself, the concepts conceived in the Father. And so it was, that when the Father ordered the world to come into existence, the Word one by one completed each object of creation, thus pleasing God…. God, who is the source of all authority, wished that the Word might render assistance in accomplishing a production of this kind…. The Word alone of this God is from God himself, wherefore also the Logos is God [that is, “deity,” in the sense of nature of substance], being the substance of God….
So Jesus is in class or likeness ‘god’ and we can be too. But in identity the only God is the Father. His nature originates in himself and he shares his nature. Just as Adam was the first human (the son of man) we are also men, but we are not Adam, rather we are or should I say were in Adam. We inherited the fleshly nature from him.
The Trinity teaches us that God is not the Father (exclusively), rather God is a substance and that substance has 3 personalities. So God is this one substance that contains 3 personalities. But scripture teaches that God is the Father and he shares his nature with his sons. The trick with the Trinity Doctrine is it tries to convince you that you are praying to 1 God. So in order to present 3 as 1 they say 1 substance. But who prays to a substance? Would that not be like someone communicating with me by talking to my human nature (the flesh). No when you talk to me you are talking to who I am, not what I am. I pray to the Father because that is who God is. Jesus taught us how to pray to God. “Dear Father in heaven”. Jesus said “ask the Father in my name”.
But Trinitarian pray to the one substance and call upon any of the so-called 3 personalities that are contained within the so-called substance and they feel at liberty to interchange the identities while they are praying. They are clearly praying to 3 persons when they pray to God. But Christ taught us to pray to the Father in his name. He taught us how to pray to God correctly.
Now Jesus is known by these 2 titles:
- The son of God;
- The son of man.
Is that because Jesus had divine nature and therefore was known as the son of God and then emptied himself of his former privilege and took on human nature to become the son of man, the title that Adam previously had. Of course, he is now back with God and has the glory that he had with him before the world began.
So is Jesus a divine being? Well he has God’s nature and he was begotten directly from God himself. Do you believe that Jesus is a divine being?
In the Latin versions, owing to the limitations of that language, both ‘theotes’ (deity) and ‘theiotes’ (divinity) are translated by the same term ‘divinity’. But this was felt to be inadequate by some scholars, and the word ‘deity’ was coined at a later date to represent “Theotes.” Scholars appear evenly divided over the differences in the words ‘theotes’ & theiotes. Some say there is no difference others say the difference is like saying ‘divinity’ versus ‘essence’. However whatever the truth is, it is clear that neither word is talking about God in identity (who).
In the Strongs for example it says that the word ‘theotes’ (Deity) means ‘divinity’ or ‘godhead’. According to Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon, ‘theotes’ means ‘divinity’, ‘divine nature’. The word ‘theiotes’ (divinity) in the Strongs says it means ‘divinity’, ‘godhead’. This word comes from the word ‘theios’ which means ‘godlike’, ‘divine’, ‘godhead’.
So yes in nature or essence Christ is in class ‘god’. We can even use the words ‘theos’ & ‘elohim’ to describe him. But we too can be in class ‘god’. We too can be called by the titles ‘theos’ & ‘elohim’. Even the Father is a god. But as I have said before, the kind of god that the Father is the ‘Most High God’ and there is no one above him. He is the ‘original’ God and to call him ‘God’ or ‘the God’ is entirely appropriate when referring to the Father. He is even the head of Jesus Christ and Jesus calls him his God and our God.
When we talk of Jesus we say that he is the son. That is the son of God. The prototype son. He is very like God because he is God’s son.
Remember that it is written that “God was in Christ redeeming the world back to himself”. But it seems obvious that if God was in Christ, then God is different to Christ. The Colossians verse says that we have been filled who is the head of all rule and authority. Now to be filled with something means that it is inside us. The fact that he is inside us shows that I am a different person to what or who is inside me, just as water in a glass is different to the glass itself. If one is possessed by the Devil for example (the devil inside a person), then one is not the Devil himself. Rather he is controlled by the nature of the Devil and he would be like the Devil. But he wouldn’t be the Devil himself. He is still himself, his soul.
If the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father, then the Father is not the Son. Now if the fullness of the deity lives in Christ we cannot say that Christ is “The Deity” himself, rather the quality/nature of The Deity is in him. Just as Christ should be in us, we should be Christ like and have his spirit inside, but we are not Christ. We are his image and Jesus is the image of God.
John 17:21
that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
Anyway we are in Christ and Christ is in us. The Father is in Christ and Christ is in the Father. They invite us to be in them and they will fill us. But we are still distinct. If I am in God and God is in me. I am still me. If God was inside me, then it should be assumed that I was not God either. What is inside YOU cannot be YOU because YOU would be that thing inside and then it wouldn’t be inside. Sounds cryptic I know, but that is how silly it is to try and make out that the Colossians verse is saying that Jesus is God.
← Go back to ‘Supporting the Trinity Doctrine‘.
