--- title: "Who sits at God’s right hand?" description: "The objection “Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father, and no one can sit at his own right hand.”, stated at full strength and answered from Scripture." url: "https://onegodapologetics.com/academy/lab/the-right-hand-of-god/" source: "One God Apologetics" section: "The Objection Lab" tags: ["godhead"] license: "Free to read and quote with attribution." --- # Who sits at God’s right hand? > The objection, in the words its strongest advocate would use: “Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father, and no one can sit at his own right hand.” *An objection answered at https://onegodapologetics.com/academy/lab/the-right-hand-of-god/* ## The objection at full strength The New Testament’s most repeated picture of the risen Christ is that He is seated “on the right hand of God” (Mark 16:19; Rom 8:34; 1 Pet 3:22). It fulfils Psalm 110:1, “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand,” one of the Old Testament verses the New Testament quotes most often. Stephen, “full of the Holy Ghost,” “saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55). In Revelation the Lamb comes and takes the book “out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne” (Rev 5:7). Trinitarians don’t need the imagery to be literal. Their point is that whatever “right hand” means, it relates two: one who seats and one who is seated, one who holds the book and one who takes it. No one sits at his own right hand. ## The ninety-second answer “Right hand” is a biblical figure for power: “Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power” (Exod 15:6). Jesus said He would sit “on the right hand of power” (Matt 26:64). God is an invisible Spirit (John 4:24), so no one pictures two bodies on two seats. The phrase describes the exaltation of the man Christ Jesus to all authority (Acts 2:33–36; Matt 28:18). It speaks of His position, not of a second divine person. ## The five-minute answer **1. Both sides agree the phrase is figurative.** God the Father is “a Spirit” (John 4:24) and “invisible” (1 Tim 1:17). Trinitarians do not believe He has a body with a right side. So the question is not whether “right hand” is literal but what the figure means. Scripture tells us: > Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. > > — Exodus 15:6 (KJV) > The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly. > > — Psalms 118:16 (KJV) The right hand of the LORD is His power in action. Jesus used the phrase that way before the council: “Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power” (Matt 26:64). “Power” there stands for God Himself. **2. The right hand describes the exaltation of a man.** Peter’s sermon at Pentecost explains Psalm 110 for us. Jesus was “by the right hand of God exalted” (Acts 2:33), and then: > Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. > > — Acts 2:36 (KJV) God “hath made” Him Lord and Christ. That is the language of a man raised and given authority. Jesus said the same: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matt 28:18). Paul says God raised Christ and “set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power” (Eph 1:20–21). The right hand is the place of the glorified humanity, which now holds all the authority of God. Hebrews says the same: “when he had by himself purged our sins,” He “sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb 1:3). The seat follows the cross. It is the reward of the obedience the man Christ Jesus rendered: “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him” (Phil 2:9). **3. Psalm 110:1 is about the Messiah.** “The LORD said unto my Lord” is the LORD speaking to David’s Lord, the Messiah. Jesus used the verse to show that David’s son is also David’s Lord (Matt 22:42–45). It is a prophecy of the exaltation of David’s descendant, not a window into an eternal arrangement between divine persons. **4. Stephen and Revelation.** Stephen saw “the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55): Jesus in the place of divine glory and power. Then he prayed, and he prayed to Jesus: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59). Revelation is a book of symbols; the Lamb in chapter 5 has seven horns and seven eyes (Rev 5:6), and no one reads that literally. Even there the Lamb stands “in the midst of the throne” (Rev 5:6), not beside a second one. Revelation’s own closing picture is one throne: > **3** And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: **4** And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. > > — Revelation 22:3–4 (KJV) “The throne of God and of the Lamb,” and “his servants shall serve him: and they shall see his face.” One throne, one face, one name. The right hand tells us that the man Christ Jesus holds all the power of God. It does not give us a second God. ## The trap to avoid Don’t mock the imagery (“God isn’t a giant in a chair”). Your opponent doesn’t think He is, and ridicule makes you look as if you are dodging. Grant that both sides read “right hand” as a figure, then argue what the figure means from Scripture: power (Exod 15:6; Matt 26:64) and the exaltation of the man Christ Jesus (Acts 2:33–36). Also, don’t deny every kind of distinction. The glorified man is distinct from the invisible God who dwells in Him, and that is the distinction the right hand expresses. ## A model answer We agree that “right hand” isn’t literal. God the Father is a Spirit. You don’t believe He has a right arm and a chair. So what does the phrase mean? The Bible tells us: “Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power.” The right hand is God’s power. Jesus said, “Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power.” And who is at that right hand? Peter explains it at Pentecost. Jesus was “by the right hand of God exalted,” and “God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” That’s the language of a man who was crucified, raised and given all authority. Jesus said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Stephen saw Jesus in that place of glory, and then what did he do? He prayed to Jesus: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And when Revelation shows us the end, there is one throne, “the throne of God and of the Lamb,” and “his servants shall serve him: and they shall see his face.” One throne. One face. The right hand tells us the man Christ Jesus has all the power of God. It doesn’t give us a second God. ## The verses - Psalms 110:1 - Exodus 15:6 - Matthew 26:64 - Acts 2:33–36 - Matthew 28:18 - Acts 7:55–59 - John 4:24 - Revelation 22:3–4 ## Read the case in full - [Oneness Theology: A Working Compendium](https://onegodapologetics.com/library/oneness-theology-a-working-compendium/) — A short but complete map of Oneness theology: the one God of Israel, manifested in flesh as Jesus Christ. It works through the Hebrew and Greek of the key Old and New Testament texts, the typology of the angel, the tabernacle and the priesthood, and the apostolic practice of baptism in Jesus’ name. Each contested text is set beside the strongest Trinitarian reading before it is answered. - [Ten Objections to Oneness, Answered](https://onegodapologetics.com/library/ten-objections-to-oneness-answered/) — The ten objections Oneness believers hear most often, each stated first in its strongest Trinitarian form and then answered from Scripture. The final section tests the claim that the church always confessed three persons, with names and dates from Noetus and Praxeas to the councils of 325 and 381. - [YHWH in the Flesh: An Old Testament Map](https://onegodapologetics.com/library/yhwh-in-the-flesh-an-old-testament-map/) — The Old Testament says again and again that Yahweh himself will come, save, shepherd and shine, and that he gives his name and glory to no other. The New Testament applies those same texts to Jesus. This map sets out five groups of passages side by side and draws the conclusion they point to: Jesus is YHWH manifested in flesh.