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John 5:18 | Exposing the False Trinity Doctrine

The King James Version (KJV) is mostly used in these lessons. Click here to access the KJV online.
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Because of this then, the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but also called G-d [Yahuwah] his own Father, making himself equal with G-d [Yahuwah]. (John 5:18)

The Trinitarian Claim

Since this passage says that Yahushua was making himself equal with G-d [Yahuwah], Trinitarians claim this passage also identifies Yahushua as G-d [Yahuwah].

The Claim vs. The Facts

Rather than identifying Yahushua as Yahuwah, the facts tell us Yahushua is not Yahuwah.

The Problems with the Claim

1. Fallacious Reasoning

Here in this passage Trinitarians draw the conclusion that since Yahushua was making himself equal with Yahuwah, then he must also be Yahuwah by identity. However, it is quite plain to thinking people that being equal with another person does not mean you also share their identity. In fact, it means just the opposite. To be equal to someone else means you are not that someone else by identity. If Yahushua is equal with Yahuwah that does not mean we should conclude he is Yahuwah by identity. In fact, we must conclude otherwise. If he is equal to Yahuwah, it means he is not Yahuwah. Yahuwah is someone else.

Not only so, it is quite clear that Yahushua was being accused of making himself equal with G-d the Father [Yahuwah]. Anyone can easily see that it would then be quite absurd to claim equality with G-d the Father [Yahuwah] would mean he is G-d the Father [Yahuwah]. For some reason, it is clear to Trinitarians when you put it this way. It should be clear then to anyone, including Trinitarians, that equality with Yahuwah does not mean you are Yahuwah. In fact, it means the opposite. It necessarily means you are not Yahuwah.

2. John 14:28

At John 14:28, Yahushua says, "the Father is greater than I." At John 10:29, he tells us the Father is greater than all. These statements are generally ignored by Trinitarians making this claim. "Greater than" is not the same as "equal to."

3. Yahuwah is not being identified as Yahushua but as the Father

Notice very carefully the identity of God [Yahuwah] in this passage. Who is it? Yahushua is telling the Jews right here who Yahuwah is and how he is related to their G-d. He identified the entity known as "G-d [Yahuwah]", not as himself, but as his Father. And this is also what the Jews understood - that he was calling the person they themselves understood to be "G-d," his own Father, making himself Yahuwah's own Son. The verse is about Yahushua relationship to Yahuwah. The reason the Jews were so angry with Yahushua is that he was claiming their own G-d was his Father. These Jews all had earthly fathers. But Yahushua was claiming his Father was Yahuwah himself. To be Yahuwah's own son afforded him a much higher status than these Jews who perceived themselves to be the legitimate sons of Yahuwah and rulers of Israel (see Psalm 82:6; Romans 9:4). These Jews also identify Yahuwah as their Father (8:41). What irritated them here was that Yahushua was claiming to be Yahuwah's own Son. The identity of "G-d [Yahuwah]" was not Yahushua but Yahushua's Father. Yahushua was not claiming to be "G-d [Yahuwah]" but rather Yahuwah's Son. The same situation occurs again in John 10. In fact, this is what John is explicitly telling us in this passage. Indeed, they finally charged him with claiming to be the "son of G-d" (19:7). The Jews here do not perceive that he is claiming to be "G-d" but G-d's [Yahuwah's] son.

4. Christians: Yahuwah is our own Father

Even the Jews confessed Yahuwah was their Father (8:41). Yahuwah was Yahushua's own Father because he was begotten of Yahuwah by the Spirit of Yahuwah (Luke 1:35). And he is the firstborn of many brothers (Romans 8:29). All true Christians are born of Yahuwah; Yahuwah is their true Father. They have died to the world, and their old life into which they were naturally born, to live a new life where the Living Yahuwah is their own Father. Yahuwah begets them to new life by His Spirit (John 3:3-8). In this way, Yahuwah is their Father and they are begotten sons of Yahuwah. What shall we say then? That they are also claiming to be equal to Yahuwah and they are Yahuwah too?

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Analysis of the Facts


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3. Making himself equal to Yahuwah

That Yahushua was indeed making himself equal to Yahuwah is made clear by the fact that he did call Yahuwah his own Father. The phrase, "making himself equal to G-d [Yahuwah]" is not the second thing Yahushua did which made them angry. It is the implication of the second thing Yahushua did which made them angry - calling Yahuwah his own Father. We know that he did indeed call Yahuwah his own Father. And then we are told the implications of calling Yahuwah his own Father: making himself equal to Yahuwah.

But this still leaves a question. In what manner was he equal to Yahuwah? At this point, it seems there are some who suppose they have been granted a license to resort to their imaginations. Trinitarians resort to using the word "G-d" as a synonym of the divine nature, "Yahushua is G-d" (i.e. Yahushua is divine by nature). But there is nothing in the context to suggest we are to suppose Yahushua had the same divine ousia as the Father or that anything of the sort is being discussed by John. And as we have already seen, Yahuwah is already identified in this context and it is not Yahushua. By definition, if you are equal to Yahuwah it means you are not Yahuwah. Yahushua is equal to somebody else who is not him: Yahuwah. The only thing which can be ascertained from the context as to the identity of Yahuwah is that Yahuwah is the Father of Yahushua. Yahuwah in this account is his G-d. So we are left with the question: How was Yahushua equal to G-d the Father [Yahuwah]?

4. Yahushua Responds and Makes It All Clear

Notice how Yahushua immediately responds and clarifies this for them and explains why they are mistaken:

Therefore Yahushua answered and said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son is able to do nothing of himself, unless it is something he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also likewise does. For the Father loves the Son, and shows him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show him greater works than these, so that you will marvel.

Yahushua's response shows us that he is trying to clear up any confusion the Jews might have. He wasn't able to do anything by himself. He was only able to do what the Father gave him to do.

I am not able to do anything from myself. John 5:30.

Yahushua clarifies this even further in his comments which follow:

He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him... I have come in the name of my Father, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the only G-d [Yahuwah]?

The Jews had missed the main point. The point was not that he called Yahuwah his own Father but that his Father was still working and he was working. Yahushua came in his Father's name (5:43; 10:25; 17:6); he did the works of his Father (5:20,36; 10:25,32, 37-38; 14:10-11; 17:4). Yahushua was anointed (Acts 10:38)and sent to carry out the Father's will and His purposes. To come in the Father's name meant that he represented the Father in all his words and deeds. The Father had sent Yahushua as His representative. Therefore, one was expected to receive Yahushua as one would receive the Father Himself. To disrespect Yahushua was to disrespect the Father who sent him on His behalf, in His name. In this way, one honoured Yahuwah who sent Yahushua by honouring Yahushua whom Yahuwah sent because Yahushua was representing Yahuwah and acting on His behalf; he was sent in the name of the Father. When you honoured Yahushua who Yahuwah sent; you were honouring Yahuwah who sent him because Yahushua was acting in G-d the Father's [Yahuwah's] name and in His behalf.

It is in this manner that Yahushua was equal to someone else: Yahuwah who sent him. He was doing the works of his Father, "My Father is still working and I am working." He did not act on his own behalf but did His Father's will and carried out his Father's purposes; the Father abiding in him did the works (14:10). Notice how Yahushua concludes his response to them:

I have come in the name of my Father, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the only G-d [Yahuwah]?

5. What really set off these Jews

The Old Testament describes Yahuwah as the Father of Israel. Even more, it describes the Israelites as children of Yahuwah. So does the New Testament (John 11:49-52). By definition, that makes Yahuwah the Father of each of them. But there is something more that these Jews knew. Every Jew knew that the expected Messiah was the son of David because of this promise:

When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me. 2 Samuel 7:12-14; see Hebrews 1:5.

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Conclusion

Yahushua was equal to someone else: Yahuwah. The immediate context is about how Yahushua was working and his Father was working (5:17). In this sense, they were equal because both Father and Son were involved in these same deeds. The following context also clarifies to us how Yahushua was equal to Yahuwah. He came in the name of the Father and did the Father's works (4:34). Indeed, the Father abiding in him did the works (14:10). As the representative that Yahuwah sent of Himself, Yahushua was equal to Yahuwah in this particular respect since he acted on Yahuwah's behalf. He came in the name of Yahuwah the Father. However, with respect to his position and authority, his G-d was greater than him and he never did seek his own will but the will of his Lord and his G-d. Divine sonship is a function of walking according to the Spirit of Yahuwah and doing the works of Yahuwah. "Those who are led by the Spirit of Yahuwah; these are the sons of G-d [Yahuwah]." (Romans 8:14; see John 20:21-22). He did not seek his own glory and did not come in his own name; he came in the name of the only G-d, his Father.

The Father is greater than I. John 14:28

 
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