Biblical subordination
Jesus Christ is the creator, not a creature and will always be equal to the Father in this sense. Jn 1:1 says, "and the word was [uncreated] God". However, sometime around the incarnation, Jesus made a choice to submit to the Father as His head. We call this choice, the subordination (or down-ranking) of Christ to the Father. Jesus did not give up being God, He merely began to obey the Father as though He were a creature. This is called "Biblical subordination". Bible evidence seems to support the view that the Holy Spirit submits to both the Father and the Son, but it is not a strong case.
Biblical subordination proven from the Bible
Biblical Subordination expressed by scholars
Biblical Subordination expressed by early fathers
Arian subordination refuted
"Arian subordination" is taught by Jehovah's Witnesses and Christadelphians. These false teachers use the fact that of Christ's subordination, to prove Jesus is not God, but a creature. They reason it is impossible for God to serve, and if He does, he ceases being God.
Arian subordination refuted
The Historical Development of "Arian style" (Jehovah's Witness) Subordination
Athanasian Creed rejects subordination
The Roman Catholic and Evangelical Position:
Of course, at the other end of the scale are another set of false teachers who deny Jesus was subordinate to the Father in any way. They just blindly deny the many clear Bible passages and adopt the "Athanasian Creed" which says, "So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty. ... And in this Trinity ... none is greater or less than another. But the whole three persons are ... coequal." While the vast majority of the "Athanasian Creed" is much closer to the Bible truth than the Arian view of Christ. Arian's, however, focus on this one small error in an effort to trash the whole of trinity Doctrine. Interestingly, both Roman Catholics and Jehovah's Witnesses are guilty of the same error: Namely, they both believe that if Christ is subordinate to the Father, that he is less than God. So JW's emphasize the subordination of Christ in an effort to prove he is a creature and RC's empasize the deity of Christ and deny the subordination of Christ. Both groups are wrong. The truth is that Jesus is uncreated God, but was subordinate to the Father.
Father
Son
Holy Spirit
Submission of the Holy Spirit to both Christ and the Father:
- 150 AD Justin Martyr "We will prove that we worship him reasonably; for we have learned that he is the Son of the true God Himself, that he holds a second place, and the Spirit of prophecy a third. " (First Apology 13:5-6).
