The Father Acts on The Son’s Behalf

It is argued by those who reject the Bible’s teaching, that Jesus Christ is YHWH, Almighty God, The Great I AM, that God the Father is prominent, and Jesus Christ is secondary. Jesus is said to be “sent” by the Father (John 20:21, ect), and Himself says that He can do nothing without the Father (John 5:19, etc).

There are passages in the New Testament, that are clear, that Jesus Christ is not, as The Eternal God, in any way “inferior” to the Father. One such verse is in 1 Corinthians 1:9:

“πιστὸς ὁ θεὸς, δι' οὗ ἐκλήθητε εἰς κοινωνίαν τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν”

Literally it reads in English, “ Faithful the God through Whom you were called into fellowship with the Son of Him Jesus Christ the Lord of us”

Here we see that the Greek preposition, “δι' (διά), is used with the genitive, where the meaning clearly is that of “agency”. The Father is acting on the behalf of Jesus Christ, as His “agent”, in calling those into fellowship with Jesus. As it stands, this is impossible, if Jesus Christ is “inferior” to God the Father, or a created Person.

Further, we would here expect Paul to write, “ὑπό οὗ (BY Whom)”, the Father as the “source”, and not “agent”. Three Greek manuscripts, D* F G, actually do read “ὑπό οὗ”, instead of, “δι' οὗ”. No doubt to remove this seemingly difficulty, of the Father acting on the Son’s behalf.

Some English versions, like, ESV, CSB, ISV, NET, KJV, NJKV, Weymouth, etc, translate the Greek “δι' οὗ”, as “by whom”, to make the father the “source”, and not “agent”.

The Greek grammarian, Dr Samuel Greek says of the use of “δι'” here:

“The Father is represented as acting on behalf of his Son, to bring Christians into fellowship with Him” (Handbook to the Grammar of the Greek Testament, p. 246)

And, Dr A T Robertson:

“Through whom  (δι' ου). God is the agent (δι') of their call as in Ro 11:36 and also the ground or reason for their call (δι' ον) in Heb 2:10” (A T Robertson)

There is no doubt, that Paul, under the guiding of God the Holy Spirit, wrote “δι' οὗ”, where the meaning clearly is that of AGENCY, and not SOURCE.

How can this be the case here, if, as some teach, that God the Father is the only Person Who is God, and that Jesus Christ is His “agent”, someone secondary, “through Whom”, He  Acts? For Paul to have written as he does in 1 Corinthians 1:9, it is clear, that Jesus Christ is God, as much as the Father is God, and in no way “inferior”, as the Jehovah’s Witnesses say in their version, for John 1:1, “and the Word was a god”.

In 2 Thessalonians 2:16, we have another interesting reading:

“αυτος δε ο κυριος ημων ιησους χριστος και ο θεος και πατηρ ημων ο αγαπησας ημας και δους παρακλησιν αιωνιαν και ελπιδα αγαθην εν χαριτι”

Literally, “Himself now the Lord of us Jesus Christ and God the Father of us the One having loved us and having given comfort and eternal hope good by grace”

Note the order of Persons here, where Jesus Christ is placed first, and then God the Father. We have two subjects, Jesus Christ and God the Father, Who are united by the use of the Greek article, “ο (the One)”, which is masculine, singular. Paul here invokes Jesus Christ, and the Father, but places Jesus Christ ahead of the Father, but says that BOTH are the equal SOURCE of our “comfort and eternal hope good by grace”. It should be noted here, that it is clear, that Jesus Christ and the Father are distinct Persons, and not one and the same, as some falsely teach. This is seen in the Greek, “αυτος δε ο κυριος ημων ιησους χριστος και ο θεος και πατηρ ημων”. Impossible to refer to a single Person.

In 1 Thessalonians 3:11, the word order is different:

“αυτος δε ο θεος και πατηρ ημων και ο κυριος ημων ιησους χριστος κατευθυναι την οδον ημων προς υμας”

Literally, “Himself now the God and Father of us and the Lord of us Jesus Christ may direct the way of us to you”

Here we have again the two Persons, the Father and Jesus Christ, where the Father is placed first. Again, it is clear that we have two distinct Persons, “αυτος δε ο θεος και πατηρ ημων και ο κυριος ημων ιησους χριστος”. Here also we have the two Persons, Who jointly “κατευθυναι”, direct our way in life.

In the next chapter of this Epistle of Paul, we have another interesting reading.

 “ο δε κυριος κατευθυναι υμων τας καρδιας εις την αγαπην του θεου και εις υπομονην του χριστου”  (3:5)

Which is, “and the Lord may direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ”

It is also clear from the Greek here, that we have Three distinct Persons. “ο κυριος (the Lord), and “ του θεου (the God)”, and “του χριστου (the Christ). It is also clear, that “ο κυριος” is not the same as “του θεου”, Who is God the Father. Then we have “του χριστου”, Who is Jesus Christ. “ο κυριος”, can only refer to the Holy Spirit. Paul writes of the Holy Spirit in 2 Corinthians, “ὁ δὲ Κύριος τὸ Πνεῦμά ἐστιν” (3:17), which can be translated as, “now the Spirit is the Lord”, as is also seen in verse 18, “ἀπὸ Κυρίου Πνεύματος”, literally, “from Lord Spirit”, being the One Person.

Here it is clear, that we have THREE distinct Persons, Who are united in their action, by the use of “κατευθυναι”, the SINGULAR, “may direct”. We here have the TRINITY.