One God, three persons
The word Trinity is not found in the Bible, but it is a helpful way Christians describe what Scripture reveals. There is one God, and the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are each spoken of in ways that belong to God. Jesus told his disciples to baptise in the one name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).
John opens his Gospel by identifying the Word, who became Jesus, as both with God and truly God (John 1:1; John 1:14). Jesus also speaks of a real unity with the Father (John 10:30). So the Father and Son are not competing gods, nor is the Son a created lesser deity.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Equality does not erase distinction
Being equal does not mean doing the identical thing. Within the biblical story of salvation, the Father sends the Son, the Son comes to carry out the Father’s will, and the Spirit is sent to help, teach and glorify Christ (John 3:16-17; John 14:26; John 16:13-14). These are distinct personal actions, yet they reveal the one God at work.
Jesus receives the same honour that people give the Father, which would be impossible if he were merely a creature (John 5:23). Hebrews describes the Son as the exact expression of God’s own being and as sustaining all things by his power (Hebrews 1:3). Subordination in role, then, need not mean inferiority in nature.
That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
The Son’s willing obedience
The clearest picture of Christ’s submission comes in his earthly mission. Though he existed in the form of God, Jesus took the position of a servant, became human, and obeyed all the way to the cross (Philippians 2:6-8). That was not forced submission or a sign that he lacked divine worth. It was the Son’s loving choice to save.
In Gethsemane, facing suffering, Jesus placed his human will before the Father in trust and obedience (Luke 22:42). This is one reason Christians see his submission as beautiful rather than demeaning. The eternal Son entered our weakness to bring us back to God.
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
What about the Son being subject?
Paul says that Christ will ultimately hand the kingdom to God the Father and will be subject to him, so that God may be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:24-28). Paul also writes that the head of Christ is God (1 Corinthians 11:3). These passages show an order in the relationship between Father and Son.
Faithful Christians explain that order in different ways. Many understand it as the Son’s eternal, willing submission in role. Others believe these texts mainly describe Christ’s mission as the incarnate Messiah and his mediating reign. Both views should preserve what Scripture makes plain: Jesus is fully divine, the Father is not the Son, and the Son’s obedience is freely loving, never evidence that he is less than God.