I am going to begin this article by sharing a portion of a comment that I recently came across.

The person fulfilling the roll as the Father could have fulfilled the roll as the Son; the person fulfilling the roll as the Son could have fulfilled the roll as the Father…..

This statement was made on a YouTube video regarding the topic of the Trinity, and it demonstrates how a person can be led into error even by a widely accepted theological view such as the doctrine of the Trinity.

Now before we move forward, I want to make myself abundantly clear. I firmly believe and affirm the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, so I appeal to you to think critically and not to miss what I am sharing in this article.

While I absolutely affirm and teach the deity of Jesus Christ, I do have some issues with what is often referred to as the doctrine of the Trinity, and the comment I shared above highlights the main problem I have with it. Understand this: a doctrine can be technically correct, but poorly communicated and understood, and when this happens error easily follows.

Notice that the commenter speaks of the person fulfilling the role as the Father and the person who fulfilled the role as the Son, and that each could have taken the role of the other. 

This comment represents a massive error that falls short of the most fundamental truth given to us in the New Testament, and that is that God has a Son, a divine Son. Thus the comment is in complete opposition to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and it is in complete opposition to everything that Jesus ever said about the Father (both his relationship to the Father, and ours).

Now, why do I say this? I say this because the Father and the Son are not role playing. The Father and the Son are not actors in some cosmic divine theater. God, whom Jesus referred to as the Only true God, really is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and Jesus really is his only begotten Son. The relationship between the Father and the Son is authentic. Jesus really is God’s offspring.

According to the apostle John, Jesus is the Son of the Father, in truth and love ~ 2 John 1:3. And Mark begins his gospel by saying, The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God ~ Mark 1:1.

Without the truth that Jesus is the Son of God, we have no gospel. If God the Father, and Jesus Christ are merely role playing, then Jesus would not truly be begotten of the Father. Yet the New Testament unequivocally tells us that Jesus is God’s only begotten Son.

The relationship between the Father and the Son is not that of two deities deciding between themselves who will be the Father and who will be the Son. If your understanding of the Trinity is anywhere near the comment I started with, then your trinitarian doctrine is wrong and you need to tear it down and start over. The best way to start over is to embrace the New Testament “as it is written” without men’s theological input, and thus build yourself up in the truth of the person of Jesus Christ who is God’s Son in every sense of the word. Allow the Holy Spirit to glorify Christ who will reveal the Father to you.

Is God truly the Father or is he not? I am convinced that the Father is who Jesus said he is. Even though Jesus told his disciples, if you have seen me you have seen the Father, Jesus wanted them to draw close to the Father and know the Father as their very own Father.

And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father. At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. ~ John 16:23-27

In Matthew 7 Jesus makes a contrast between earthly Fathers and God, our heavenly Father.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? ~ Matthew 7:7-11

Imagine what it would do for you personally, if you fully accepted that God truly is the Father of your Lord Jesus Christ, and also your Father through Christ? Remember Jesus says of the Father For the Father himself loves you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. ~ John 16:27

Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is today in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. ~ Luke 12:27-32

If God were simply role playing none of us would ever truly know the love of the Father, that is, if God were only acting and not truly a Father. Thank God he is a Father, our very own Father, The Father! And he loves us because we truly are his children through Jesus Christ.

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he (Jesus) shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. ~ 1 John 3:1-3