Bible
Study
Chapter
1 On God and the Holy Trinity, section 3 (part II): The Deity of Jesus Christ
By:
Moses Flores
Having explored some Trinitarian errors, we are ready to move on to proving the doctrine of the Trinity. Again, briefly defined the Doctrine of the Trinity is stated as follows:
Within the one substance that is God, there eternally exists three co-equal and co-eternal persons, namely, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Recall the meaning of substance in our first lesson. Substance was “the underlying essence; that in which all qualities of a thing inhere.[1]” Thus, the explicit assertion of the Trinity is that just as the Father is the one and only true God, so also existing in the same substance of the one true God, are the persons of the Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Thus, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are equally God with the Father. Said another way, they possess the same “Godness” with the Father. To reiterate against some Trinitarian errors, their Godhood is not derived from the Father, or separate from the Father. All three persons eternally exist as the community of the Godhead.
The Deity of the Father is pretty much accepted, so I do not with to spend much time there. Point in fact, the Deity of the Father, is not really an issue in proving the doctrine of the Trinity. Arians, as well as Sabellians, believed that the Father is the one true God. The questions of the doctrine of the Trinity deal more with the relationships of the Son and the Holy Spirit to the Father.
The purpose of this study is to prove, from the Scriptures, that Jesus Christ was believed to be God with the Father (co-equality) and even that He has always existed with the Father (co-eternality). The study will not be an exhaustive examination of texts that prove the Deity of Jesus Christ, but the text covered will certainly be thoroughly covered so as to show beyond all doubt and criticism that the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus Christ is “very God of very God”.
John 1:1-3, 18
A forceful passage that proves the co-equality and co-eternity of Christ with the Father, as well as the distinction of persons, is found in the prologue of the Gospel of John particularly 1:1-3 and 18. John 1:1 reads,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All thing were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.”
The Greek text is the most revealing about the nature of the Logos, Jesus Christ. The Greek verb “to be” is here in the imperfect tense which denotes continuous action in the past. The text should be understood then as, “In the beginning the Word always was…” This is to say that as far back as one wishes to say when “the beginning” was (it would only seem obvious, though, that this is a reference to creation, cf. Gen.1:1), the Word of God was already in existence. That is, before Creation was, the Word already was.
The same verb tense is used in the rest of the verse: “and the Word was always with God…” Notice that two persons are in view here and described as eternal, for both their existences precede “the beginning” and they are with - literally “face to face with”- each other, thus, asserting their co-eternity. By way of implication, what is eternal by nature is God. Thus, the Word is co-eternal with God.
The last proposition of the verse is more explicit on this point as it asserts the nature of the Logos more plainly: literally, in the Greek reading, “and God was always the Word.” The Word of God was always God! That there be no questions that two persons share the nature of Deity, John says in verse 2, “He (the Logos) was in the beginning with God.” Following the pronouns, the “He” in verse 2 is referencing to the “Word” and is clearly distinct from, yet equal to God [the father].
To further the point that Christ is not a created being by God, verse three assures that that no created thing was made without the Logos. It would be utterly absurd and logically contradictory, to assert that Christ is both created by God and yet nothing created was made without him. For if the proposition of verse 3 is true, then Christ would have had to be created in order to create himself through his own agency!
One particular translation objects to this understanding and asserts that the text should read, “…the Word was a god.” This translation is the one accepted by the Jehovah’s Witness and found in the New World Translation of the Bible. They argue that the Greek is missing the definite article (the), and thus should be translated “a god” rather than understood to be equal with “the God.” Thus, follows their understanding of Christ in the Arian persuasion that Christ has God-like qualities, but is not equal with the Father in anyway.
However, such a grammatical
phenomenon of a missing definite article shouldn’t bother us. There are several instances in Scripture
where the definite article is missing from the noun “God” and yet the
understanding of “God” is “God” in the fullest sense. For instance, imagine reading 2 Corinthians
5:19 as “…in Christ a god was
reconciling the world to himself…” How
ridiculous does that sound? Now we are
left with even more questions, like “which god was reconciling?” and “why would
we need to be reconciled to any other God but the Father?” Other passages that use “God” without the
definite article but certainly give the understanding of God in the highest
sense include Mark
The final verse of the prologue is just as emphatic on the co-equality and distinction of persons in the Godhead as the above. In verse 18, we read,
“No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” (NKJV)
There is actually a textual variation from older Greek manuscripts that must be strongly considered here. If you have an NKJV version of the Bible, you will probably notice that there is a letter on your Bible on the word “Son” pointing you to the margin notes and says that “Son” should read “God” according to older, more reliable, Greek texts. Other, more recent versions of the Bible have this translation. For instance,
“No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.” (NIV)
“No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” (NASB)
“No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, He has made Him known.” (ESV)
The significance of the variation hardly needs explanation. Jesus Christ is God! Secondly, again we see two persons are in view here: “the begotten God” (the Son) and “the Father” (the non-begotten God). Following the pronouns, it is the “begotten God” that has declared “the Father”. Such a passage would make no sense if the Father and the Son are the exact same person. How would we understand one person being in their own bosom? How would we understand the invisibility of the Father if the same person is now visible as the Son? This is a contradiction! Clearly, only two persons can be in view here. One is invisible and the other is the “image” (cf. Col. 1:15) or “revealer” of the other person. But both clearly share in the same being that is God for both are called “God” in this same text – one begotten and the other is eternally generating(begetting) the other.
Also, that
Christ is the revealer of the God the Father is significant. Notice the first proposition of verse 18: “no
one has seen God at any time (cf. I Tim. 1:17;
“Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again,
‘He
has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts,
Lest
they should see with their eyes
Lest
they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So
that I should heal them.’
These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.”(emphasis mine)
The question we must ask of the text is, who is “Him” that Isaiah saw here a reference to? No doubt, Isaiah saw “the Lord of Hosts”, YHWH God, but it is clear that the pronoun reference is to the “He” and “Him” of verse 37, which is a reference to none other than Jesus Christ. Isaiah, thus, did not see the glory of God the Father, but of God the Son! He saw the glory of Christ.
Summing up these passages from the prologue of the Gospel according to John, Jesus was clearly the eternal God in His very being yet distinct from God the Father in person only. These passages and their exegesis alone provide sufficient grounds for believing that Jesus Christ is the eternal God and Creator of the Universe. They also provide sufficient grounds for believing in the distinction of the persons of the Father and the Son.
Hebrews 1:8-12
Another forceful passage that teaches that Deity of Jesus Christ is found in Hebrews 1:8-12. In order to better understand these passages, it is important that we have some background and context to them. We begin with the original intent of the author.
The audience/recipients of the letter were Jews who became Christians and were under persecution for their Christian faith. Under these circumstances, and seeing that their Jewish brethren and friends were not being persecuted or enduring such harsh circumstances, they were actually considering abandoning Christ and their faith in order to return to Judaism. The author’s purpose in writing is to exhort and admonish these brethren to persevere in their Christian faith by offering various arguments on how Christianity is better than Judaism. Thus, begins the book of Hebrews.
“GOD, who at various times and in various ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son…”
In the introduction, there is the acknowledgement of the validity of the Jewish religion because God did indeed reveal to the Jews, the ways of God. But now, in the coming of Christ, God has again spoken and with finality (hence the aorist tense of the verb “to speak”). The author begins to speak of Christ and the status He has over the prophets of old, and even over all creation.
“…whom He [God] has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He [God] made the worlds; who being the brightness of His [God’s] glory and the express image of His [God’s] person, and upholding all things by the word of His [Christ’s] power, when He [Christ] had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High, having become so much better than angels, as He [Christ] has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” (v2-4)
From here, the author gives reason why Christ is better,
“For to which of the angels did He [God] ever say:
‘You
are My Son, Today I have begotten You’ ”?
And again,
‘I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son’ ” ?
But when He [God’s] again brings the firstborn into the world, He says,
‘Let all the angels of God worship Him.’ ”
Angels, however, at their very best are ministering spirits for the people of God (v7, 14). Now we come to verse 8 and the author, again, makes his arguments as to why Christ is better than angels. We read:
But to the Son He [God] says:
‘Your
throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness;
Therefore, God, Your God, has anointed You
With the oil of gladness more than your companions.’
And:
‘you, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
They will perish, but You remain;
And they will all grow old like a garment;
Like a cloak You will fold them up,
And they will be changed.
But You are the same,
And Your years will not fail.’ ”
The first of these passages quoted is from Psalm 45:5-6 and the second from Psalm 102:25-27.
Psalm
45:5-6 appears to be a coronation ceremony for the king of
Now, returning to Hebrews 1, the author explicitly applies what the Psalmist taught about the Messiah and the one true God to Jesus Christ, the Son. The sure thing that we can conclude the author of Hebrews to be teaching is that Jesus Christ is YHWH God of the Old Testament. That Jesus Christ is not the Father is also clear from the context because the author has demonstrated how the Father speaks to Jesus Christ, and not the Father’s testimony about Himself. The syntax will not support that the Father and Christ are the same person here, nor anywhere in the Bible.
That God is superior over angels goes without saying, and the audience of Hebrews would have surely known that. The author of Hebrews is proving the superiority of Christ over angels and he does this by acknowledging the person of Jesus Christ to be declared by the Father to be the Creator, eternal, and immutable along with Himself. Hence, the co-equality and co-eternity of the Son with the Father is clearly seen along with the distinction of the persons of the Father and the Son.
Philippians 2:5-11
Philippians 2:5-11 is probably an ancient Christian hymn sung by the early Christians as a sort of confession of faith, or creed. Paul uses the hymn to teach the Philippians about humility in serving one another. The Scripture says,
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even on a cross!
Therefore, God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.” (NIV)
Notice Paul says that the nature of Christ is in His “very nature God”(NIV) (Greek, e;n morfh qeou ; NKJV, “being in the form of God”) With no vague language, Jesus Christ, in nature, is God. And being in the very form of God, he willingly took the form (Greek, morphe) of a servant by becoming a man.
Now, remember that Paul’s intention with this passage is to teach humility and what true humility looks like by using Christ as an example. Paul’s main point is NOT to prove the deity of Christ; rather, he is presupposing the belief as this hymn is already understood about what it means in regards to the nature of Christ and his relation to the Father.
The nature of humility, I believe, from this text is when someone amongst equals, in dignity or stature, lays aside their will and rights to that dignity in order to serve the will and rights of their equal (I would even add one of lower dignity). Thus, it would not be an act of humility for a creature to choose to serve the Creator. Creatures already are obligated and responsible to the Creator. Neither does the creature possess equal dignity, or nature, as God to say that he will become “nothing” in the eyes of God to serve God. God is far above creation and is counted as nothing to him already compared to His infinite being! There is no humility required for a creature to serve the Creator; only submission.
The final part of this verse is very revealing as
well. When the text says, “Jesus Christ
is Lord,” there is much that is
presupposed here. In the Old Testament,
the tetragrammaton, YHWH, is translated as “LORD” – all capital letters. This is the designation of the One True God
of Israel. After their captivity to
Christ in the Gospels
The Gospels also present some evidence for the Deity of Jesus Christ. Now, it should be noted that there are no direct statements of Deity of Jesus Christ in the Gospels. Rather, the Deity of Christ is heavily implied in the words and acts of Jesus that would categorically be attributed to God alone. For instance, in Mark 2:1-12, Jesus says to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” The evidence that implies the Deity of Christ is revealed in the words of the Scribe in reaction to Jesus’ words. They openly acknowledge, “Who can forgive sins but God?” Thus, they believed Christ was being blasphemous for essentially, if not explicitly, supposing His deity.
Point in fact, as one goes through the New Testament Gospels, one finds that the teachings of Jesus are quite egocentric, to say the least. That is, the deity of Jesus Christ is implied heavily from His words and ascribed functions (like forgiving sins, demanding absolute loyalty, etc…) The Gospel of John is filled with the “I AM” references of Jesus which, to a Jewish mind, would have only been worthy of God Himself (cf. John 8:23, 28, 58). At one point, Jesus says, while discussing His origin with the Pharisees, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God…” At the end of this conversation one thing becomes clear for the hearers: They believe Jesus is blaspheming in making himself out to be equal to God. Thus, they pick up stones to kill a blasphemer as prescribed by the Law (Leviticus 24:16). Thus, implied in the reaction of the Jews is the understanding that Jesus claimed to be the equal of God.
Statements like these and other that have the implied meaning of Jesus’ deity are considered the most admirable. But they can only be considered admirable if they are true that Jesus really is God. Otherwise, we are left admiring the words of a liar and blasphemer according to Jewish law. Interestingly enough, Jesus never denies that He is God when His audience understands Him as saying that. Rather, He stood by His own words
Among the most direct affirmations of the Deity of Christ is the trial before the High Priest, Caiaphas (Matthew 26:62-65). At one point, Caiaphas plainly declares, “Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!” Caiaphas’ meaning is to know if Christ is saying He is equal to God. The response of Christ is the calm and intent words, “It is as you say…” Caiaphas understands that Jesus has affirmed his inquiry and, according to Jewish law and tradition, tears off his clothes and acknowledges that Jesus has spoken blasphemy.
Thus, while there is no direct statement that Jesus is God by Jesus himself, it is certainly the case that Jesus assumes divine status, functions, and prerogatives[2]. It should also be noted that the Gospel accounts never apologize for the claims.
The Significance of the Doctrine of the Deity of
Christ
In John 17, Jesus prays His “high priestly prayer” and he mentions what eternal life entails: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). John wrote in his first epistle:
“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
The summer blockbuster movie, “The Da Vinci Code”, which essentially denied the Deity of Jesus Christ, ask some significant questions at the end. The questions were to the effect of saying, “what difference does it make if Christ was divine or not?” We can ask the question this way: Can we still have Christianity without a Christ who is not fully divine?
Romans 10:9 says, “That if you confess with you mouth the LORD Jesus Christ and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Recalling the significance of the term “Lord” as it was understood by a Jewish mindset as meaning the covenant Lord of the Old Testament, it becomes clear that the confession of the full deity of Jesus Christ with the Father is an essential Christian doctrine without which one cannot be saved.
This is the basis for believing that a Jehovah’s Witness, Sabellians, or Mormons, or any others who live in Trinitarian errors, especially regarding the person of Jesus Christ, are not and will not be saved so long as they live under those confessions. Confessing Jesus Christ as Lord is essential unto salvation.
Thus, this doctrine is not some useless doctrine that is meant for theologians in their white towers. Indeed, as we saw from Philippians 2:5-11 and now from Romans 10:9, this was one of the primary affirmations of the Christian faith. I think it is also significant within the history of the Church that the Deity of Jesus Christ was one of the first battles that the Holy Spirit led and guided the Church through so as to determine the Christian faith, and make a distinction between who was and who was not truly Christian. Between who could be and who could not. This doctrine is for all Christians to know. If we love Jesus Christ, surely we want him to be known for who and what He really is. If we let others believe whatever they wanted to about Jesus and not the truth about who He really is, that could only say that we don’t care or, worse yet, don’t really know and love Jesus Christ, or God for that matter.