The grace (favor and spiritual blessing) of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the presence and fellowship (the communion and sharing together, and participation) in the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen (so be it). -- Amplified Bible.
This verse is often cited as proof of the trinity. Does it, in fact, present God as being three persons?
We do find in this verse that "Lord Jesus Christ" is mentioned; we also find that "God" is referred in the expression "love of God," and we do find that the Holy Spirit is mentioned. Many of our trinitarian neighbors may claim, "There you have the trinity." According to the "Pulpit Commentary," this verse "is alone sufficient to prove the doctrine of the Trinity." And yet, do we find any such thought presented by the apostle Paul in this verse?
Three things are spoken of: grace, love and fellowship, and these three things are related to the Lord Jesus Christ, God, and the Holy Spirit respectively, but does Paul identify these three as being one God? Obviously not.
Paul ends his letter by reflecting his personal experience with the grace of the Lord Jesus (2 Corinthians 12:9), and wishes all the brothers of Christ in Corinth to have such grace. The same principle we are sure he would apply to all who belong to Christ everywhere and at all times. However, he does not in any way present the Lord Jesus Christ as being one of three persons, all of whom are alleged to be the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Some may claim that "Lord" in the expression "Lord Jesus Christ" designates Jesus as being Jehovah. The Lord Jesus Christ" designates "Jesus", not as being God or a person of God, but as the one whom the God has anointed and made "lord". -- Psalm 2:26; 45:7; Isaiah 61:1; Ezekiel 34:23,24; John 10:29; 17:1,3; Acts 2:23,36; 4:27; 10:38; Hebrews 1:9.
Likewise, the apostle speaks of communion or fellowship in, or possibly through, the Holy Spirit. Elsewhere, Paul refers to the Holy Spirit as "the Holy Spirit of God". (Ephesians 4:30) Obviously, "God" in this expression is only referring to one person, not three persons, and the Holy Spirit is the spoken of as belonging to that one person. Related to this, in the expression "spirit of God" found many times throughout the Bible refers to only one person to whom the "spirit" belongs.
The word "God" appears only once in the verse in the phrase "love of God." Paul is obviously referring to only one person as "God," the same one person presented as "God" in 2 Corinthians 1:19: 2:14; 3:4; 4:4 (2nd instance); 5:18; 11:31. The default reasoning is to realize that Paul is referring to God in 2 Corinthians 13:14 as being the same one person who is "God" in 2 Corinthians 13:4, where we read that Jesus "lives through the power of God [one person]."
The truth is that any thought of a triune God has to be imagined, assumed, added to, and read into, what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 13:14, as is true with any scripture presented to allegedly "prove" the trinity doctrine.
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