DOES 2 CORINTHIANS 13:14 SUPPORT THE TRINITY?
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship (or communion) of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen” (2 Cor. 13:14).
The word “fellowship” is translated from the Greek word “koinonia”which is used 19 times in the New Testament. Wikipedia says koinonia “refers to concepts such as communion or fellowship, joint participation, the share which one has in anything, a gift jointly contributed, a collection, a contribution. It identifies the idealized state of fellowship and unity that should exist within the Christian church, the Body of Christ.” Wikipedia also states that the term communion is derived from the Latin communio which means “sharing in common.” The word “fellowship” means to be in friendly and intimate relationship with one another; be in company of one another; share common beliefs or activities; have communion or rapport.
The Wikipedia definition has thus made clear four basic meanings of koinonia: (i) fellowship by which is meant friendly relationship with one another, share common beliefs or activities, having rapport, especially in the Christian church; (ii) having one’s own share of something; (iii) joint participation with others in anything; (iv) making a contribution or a jointly contributed gift.
In the New American Standard Bible (NASB), koinonia is translated “fellowship” twelve times, “sharing” three times, and “participation” and “contribution” twice each. But it should be observed that where “fellowship” is used, it is translated either as “fellowship with” [someone or some other people], or “fellowship of” [something], which means having one’s share of, or participation in, that thing.
On the one hand, we have verses which say, “God has called us into fellowship [intimate relationship] with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Cor. 1:9); we should not have fellowship [intimate relationship] with unbelievers (2 Cor. 6:14); we have fellowship with ourselves (1 John 1:3, 7) as well as with God and with His Son Jesus Christ (1 John 1:3, 6).
On the other hand, we have fellowship of the Spirit or Holy Spirit (Phil. 2:1: 2 Cor. 13:14). Paul desired, among other things, to have fellowship of His [Christ’s] sufferings (Phil. 3:10). What fellowship means in these places is to have a share in the thing mentioned. Evidently, Apostle Paul did not say we have fellowship with the Holy Spirit. This is due to the fact that the Holy Spirit is never known by Christ and the apostles to be a literal person, let alone God.
In the KJV, koinonia is translated “fellowship” twelve times, “communion” three times, “communication” twice, and “contribution” and “distribution” once each. The KJV also used the terms “fellowship with” and “fellowship of” to distinguish between having friendly and intimate relationship with God, Christ, and others, and having one’s own share of something. It is however very important to note that in the three places where the KJV rendered “koinonia” as “communion” the word relates to the blood, body and spirit of Christ (1 Cor. 10:16; 2 Cor. 13:14). The KJV translators had the basic meaning of the Latin “communio” (sharing) in their minds. They knew we don’t have fellowship with the blood and body [flesh] of Jesus Christ, but we partake of them by faith each time we partake of the Lord’s Supper (Matt. 26:26-29; John 6:53-56). The same idea was what Paul had in mind when he wrote 2 Cor. 13:14. He prayed that the Corinthian believers will have three vital gifts or qualities of God in them – grace, love and the Holy Spirit. The Trinitarian interpretation of three persons in that verse is unscholarly, eisegetical and false. Apostle Paul was not talking about any so-called Trinity.
For the sake of emphasis and for the avoidance of doubt, three of the nineteen passages where “koinonia” is used have been briefly explained:
I) 2 Corinthians 8:4
“Imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints” (NKJV)
Apostle Paul was talking here about the believers in Macedonia who, in spite of their extreme poverty and affliction, went beyond their means by contributing willingly and cheerfully, money and relief materials for the poor saints in Judea, Jerusalem being the main city. Their own well-being which was not much better than those in Judea made apostles Barnabas and Paul unwilling to take their donations or contribution. But they begged the apostles to take their own donations so that they too will take part in the relief service (or ministering) to the fellow believers in Judea. The Judean poverty and affliction was probably caused by the famine foretold by Agabus and which took place during the reign of Claudius Caesar (Acts 11:27-30).
The Macedonian believers, who were Gentiles gave their “poor widow’s mites” for the relief of Jewish believers in Judea (Rom 15:25,26). They also offered themselves for the labour of conveying the relief items to Jerusalem and partake in the distribution of the items.
The phrase “fellowship of the ministering to the saints” used by the NKJV in this passage simply means having a part in the work of rendering relief assistance to the saints. It means having a share of the work of helping the poor saints in Judea.
II) Philippians 3:10
“That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death (NKJV).
One of Paul’s three desires or wishes in this verse is to have fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. It means to have his own share of, or to partake of, His sufferings.
Apostle Peter encouraged his readers not to consider the fiery ordeals they were going through as anything strange because they were, by such persecutions or ordeals, simply taking part with Christ in His sufferings (1 Pet. 4:12-16). This was how the apostles regarded their beatings and torture because of their belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and their propagation of His gospel (Acts 5:40, 41). What Paul termed “fellowship of His sufferings” in Phil. 3:10 is what Peter called “partaking of His sufferings”. Some versions use words such as “share in the sufferings of Christ”.
III) 2 Corinthians 13:14
“The grace of the lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (RSV).
Almost all Christians from age 3 can recite this benediction with utmost ease. This is also one of the verses that Trinitarians often cite to prove the doctrine of the Trinity. But the truth is that they have a false interpretation of this verse.
It is important to note that the Bible does not say “fellowship with” the Holy Spirit. It says “fellowship of” the Holy Spirit. So, like the other places where “fellowship of” or “communion of” the blood or body [flesh] of Christ means having ones own share of them, the same thing applies here. It means having one’s own share of the grace, love and spirit of God to be in us. That was the expressed wish or prayer of Paul in 2 Cor. 13:14.
It is instructive to note that in Heb. 6:4 the same idea is conveyed in the phrase “partakers of the Holy Spirit”. It follows therefore that all the believers who have been baptized with the Holy Spirit are partakers of the Holy Spirit; they are having fellowship [or share] of the Holy Spirit.
It is interesting to note that most of the modern versions of the English Bible used phrases like “partake of,” “share in,” “participate in,” etc. in the places where “fellowship of” or “communion of” are used in the KJV. The only exception is in 2 Corinthians 13:14 where all of them chose to render it “fellowship of the Holy Spirit”. This is probably due to the deluding influence the Trinitarian dogma has had, and still having, on the vast majority of Christians.
But having seen that the Bible never says that we have fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and having seen also that fellowship of the Holy Spirit means partaking of the Holy Spirit or having a share of it, there is no tenable reason to cite 2 Corinthians 13:14 as a verse that supports the doctrine of the Trinity. Apostle Paul simply mentioned three great gifts of God that should be in every Christian. He was not talking about three Persons. Compare Rom. 16:20; 1 Cor. 16:23, 24; Phil. 4:23; Col. 4:18; 1 Thes. 5:28; 2 Thes. 3:18; 2 Tim. 4:22; Tit. 3:15; Philm. 1:25; Heb. 13:25; 1 Pet. 5:14; Rev. 22:21. In all these places, the apostles conferred God’s peace and grace on their correspondents. That’s exactly what Paul did in 2 Cor. 13:14. Paul did not refer to three persons in that verse of the Bible.
