Part 1: Like No One Else | Part 2: Deity 1 | Part 3: Deity 2 | Part 4: Deity 3 | Part 5: Deity 4 | Part 6: Deity 5 | Part 7: Deity 6 | Part 8: Deity 7 | Part 9: Deity 8

There’s one more category of evidence for Christ’s deity that I’d like to cover.

Worship.

Jesus is worshiped. That worship is both tolerated and commanded—and not just by Jesus himself.

Let’s run through a few passages.

• ⁸ When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. ⁹ For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken (Lk 5.8-9).

Falling at someone’s knees may or may not be an act of worship. But then Peter refers to the owner of those knees as “Lord.” We’ve seen earlier that this term is often indicated by context to be an ascription of deity—which it seems to be here as well. And Peter’s reaction follows an act by Jesus which this lifelong experienced fisherman immediately recognized as supernatural.

• ⁹ Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: ¹⁰ That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; ¹¹ And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Php 2.9-11).

Several things to note about how this passage significantly extends the previous one. First, it’s God the Father speaking, not Peter the occasionally bumbling disciple. Second, the worshipers include not just the aforesaid disciple, but all beings, natural and supernatural; and Paul seems to be piling on parallel phrases to make just that point. And third, to the ascription of “Lord” is added the observation that this ascription brings glory to God—which is the very definition of worship.

• ⁶ And again, when he bringeth in the first-begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him (He 1.6).

Here we have two additional factors: the worshipers are specifically named as “all the angels of God,” and the text specifically uses the term “worship.”

I’ll also note that Jesus is here called “the first-begotten.” This word usually means “natural firstborn,” whether of humans or animals (Ne 10.36); but it sometimes means “highest ranking,” since the firstborn in the family was culturally the highest ranking (Ps 89.27; Jer 31.9). Given that this is in a context of worship, “highest ranking” is the much more likely nuance. There is no indication here of any limitation on Jesus’ status.

• ¹² Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. ¹³ And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. ¹⁴ And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever (Re 5.12-14).

Here we have the fulfilment of the Philippians 2 passage. It is hard to imagine any description of this scene other than worship.

I should note that two divine figures are in view here; he “that sitteth upon the throne” is the Father, while “the Lamb that was slain” is obviously the Son. I think he “that liveth for ever and ever” and is worshiped in verse 14 is most likely the Father. But at the end of verse 13 the two appear in perfect grammatical and functional parallel, equally the objects of the worship.

One closing comment.

Scripture is very clear that no one but God is to be worshiped (Dt 6.13; Mt. 4.10). When John tries to worship an angel, he is rebuked (Re 22.8-9).

Jesus is God.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Part 11: Humanity 1 | Part 12: Humanity 2 | Part 13: Humanity 3 | Part 14: Humanity 4 | Part 15: Unity 1 | Part 16: Unity 2 | Part 17: Unity 3

Part 1: Like No One Else | Part 2: Deity 1 | Part 3: Deity 2 | Part 4: Deity 3 | Part 5: Deity 4 | Part 6: Deity 5 | Part 7: Deity 6 | Part 8: Deity 7

We have one more piece of biblical evidence demonstrating that Jesus does the work of providence.

Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high (He 1.3),

The “who” here is “the Son,” from the previous verse. The operative phrase in this verse is “upholding all things by the word of his power”—or, we could translate it, “by his powerful word.”

How about that. He maintains the world the same way he created it: by speaking.

This is divine work.

• Miracles

Now it’s pretty clear that this divine work is different. God is not the only being who works miracles in the Scripture, though he is certainly the one in whose power and by whose authority all miracles are done. So the fact that someone does miracles may not prove that he is God, but merely that he is empowered by God. Moses and Joshua did miracles; Elijah and Elisha did miracles; the apostles did miracles; and every last one of them would deny energetically that he was God. We even have examples of such denials, from Peter (Ac 3.12) and Paul (Ac 14.14-15).

I would suggest, though, that Jesus’ miracles—at least some of them—were different. In an earlier post in this series, I’ve already noted that just the first 2 of Jesus’ “sign miracles” in John’s Gospel demonstrate his authority over time and space, which include all four dimensions of our universe. Here I would offer another sign miracle, and that is Jesus’ own resurrection. Jesus raised several others from the dead, of course, but so did “ordinary” humans such as Elisha (and even Elisha’s bones!) and Peter. But Jesus claimed more than that ability; he said that he would lay down his life and take it up again. Recall when he was speaking to the Jewish leaders and said he would “destroy this temple” and then “raise it up” (Jn 2.19). And John quickly tells us, “He was speaking about the temple of his body” (Jn 2.21). Later in the same Gospel Jesus notes that no one will take his life from him; he will lay it down, and he will take it up again (Jn 10.18).

Now, it’s quite a trick to raise somebody from the dead; but raising yourself from the dead is on another level.

Yes, Jesus’ miracles were of a different sort from your average everyday miracles (irony absolutely intended).

To this point I’ve demonstrated that Jesus performs all three of the standard works of God. But I’d like to take second look at the second one, providence, and more specifically government. For this is where God has exercised his great plan of salvation.

You may recall that earlier in this series I made the case that “Jesus” is a divine name, because the angelic messenger said that Mary’s baby “would save his people from their sins” (Mt 1.21). Jesus, Jehovah, is the one who saves.

But there are other evidences in the works of salvation. For one, Jesus forgives sins (Mt 9.2). And the religious experts looking on ask the obvious question: “Who can forgive sins but God only?” (Mk 2.7). Jesus responds, “The Son of Man has authority to forgive sins” (Mt 9.6)—no waffling, no qualifications, no explanations, no reservations.

A second work of salvation that we should consider is his claim to be the Judge. In the Olivet Discourse he famously positions himself on a glorious throne—made glorious by his own glory—and judges all the nations of the earth, sending some to the kingdom and others to perdition (Mt 25.31-46). Similarly, he says elsewhere that “the Father hath committed all judgment unto the Son” (Jn 5.22)—and lest we read that as implying that he is something less than God, he says immediately, “That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father” (Jn 5.23).

This is divine work.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Part 10: Deity 9  | Part 11: Humanity 1 | Part 12: Humanity 2 | Part 13: Humanity 3 | Part 14: Humanity 4 | Part 15: Unity 1 | Part 16: Unity 2 | Part 17: Unity 3

Part 1: Like No One Else | Part 2: Deity 1 | Part 3: Deity 2 | Part 4: Deity 3 | Part 5: Deity 4 | Part 6: Deity 5 | Part 7: Deity 6

The next category of biblical evidence for the deity of Christ is passages that declare that he does things that only God does; they ascribe divine works to him.

Most theologians will tell you that the works of God are three: Creation, Providence, and Miracles. You’ll be shocked to learn, of course, that Jesus is said to perform all three.

• Creation

Three different New Testament books, written by three different authors, begin by saying that Jesus is the creator of the world:

All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made (Jn 1.3).

The “him” here is referring back to “the Word” in John 1.1, and later in the same chapter John writes that “the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we beheld his glory” (Jn 1.14). And as is obvious, the rest of the book is about Jesus.

By him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him (Co 1.16).

This is Paul, writing three decades before John wrote his Gospel, and thus very early in Christian history. And note that Paul says more than John did; Paul says that creation—all of it, physical and spiritual—was created not only by Jesus, but for him. That is a remarkable claim. This was not some doctrine that developed slowly, over time, like the size of the fish some guy caught.

[God] hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds (He 1.2).

Now, since I’ve said that these three statements are by three different authors, it’s obvious that I don’t think Paul wrote Hebrews. (That’s a topic for a different post, if ever.) This remarkable sermon-in-a-letter paints a picture of Christ as exalted as anything said about God by any of the Old Testament prophets.

A threefold cord is not easily broken. These three statements make it clear that Jesus, who “became flesh and walked among us,” is the same as the Elohim who spoke, and there was light; who created the heavens and the earth; and who filled the heavens with stars and the earth with all that has the breath of life.

This is God’s work.

• Providence

Two of the three passages we’ve just cited go further and ascribe the second work of God to Jesus as well. Providence is God’s care for and direction of what he has created. We call his care Preservation, and his direction Government. I like to say that in school we call Preservation “science,” and we call Government “history.”

And, it turns out, Jesus does those works too:

And he is before all things, and by him all things consist (Co 1.17).

You’ve likely heard it taught that this word consist means “hold together.” I find that phrasing intriguing. If you were Paul, living with first-century scientific understanding, what direction would you say things go when they wear out? Well, down, of course. Buildings fall down; trees fall down; people fall down when they die.

But Paul doesn’t say that; he says they ”are held together,” which implies that without Jesus’ action they would … fly apart, I suppose.

What’s intriguing about that?

Well, what Paul could not have known is that all matter consists of atoms, in the nucleus of which are two kinds of subatomic particles: protons and neutrons. Now, protons have a positive charge, which is no problem for hydrogen, the simplest atom, but becomes a problem as soon as you get 2 or more protons together in the nucleus. Why? Because positive charges are supposed to repel; those 2 (helium), or 8 (oxygen), or 103 (Lawrencium) protons are supposed to fly apart. But they don’t.

Physicists have noticed this, of course, and they have given a name to the force that must be holding them together; they call it the “strong nuclear force.” (They’ve gotten considerably more imaginative in coming up with names for other subatomic things, like spin quarks.)

Now, I’m not saying that Jesus is the strong nuclear force; I suspect that creation is far more complex than that. But I am intrigued by the fact that Paul doesn’t seem to reflect the scientific understanding of his day when he chooses his words.

I’m running long here, so I’ll save the second Providence passage for next time.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Part 9: Deity 8 | Part 10: Deity 9  | Part 11: Humanity 1 | Part 12: Humanity 2 | Part 13: Humanity 3 | Part 14: Humanity 4 | Part 15: Unity 1 | Part 16: Unity 2 | Part 17: Unity 3

Part 1: Like No One Else | Part 2: Deity 1 | Part 3: Deity 2 | Part 4: Deity 3 | Part 5: Deity 4 | Part 6: Deity 5

We’ve seen that Christ, like the Father, is both omniscient and omnipresent. What about the other non-communicable attributes?

• Omnipotence

Many students of the Scripture have noticed that John organizes the first half of his Gospel around 7 “sign” miracles that he selected to demonstrate that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (Jn 20.31). Though there’s some disagreement on delineating those miracles, I see the 7 miracles that John has identified specifically as “signs” as

1. Changing water to wine (Jn 2.11)
2. Healing a nobleman’s son (Jn 4.54)
3. Healing at the Pool of Bethesda (Jn 6.2)
4. Feeding the 5000 (Jn 6.14)
5. Healing the congenitally blind man (Jn 9.16)
6. Raising Lazarus (Jn 12.18)
7. Raising himself (Jn 2.18)

(Some would include his walking on the water and omit his resurrection, but I prefer to stick with what John actually calls “signs.”)

This is not the place to discuss each of these miracles, but I’d like to point out something about just the first two.

John begins by recounting Jesus’ changing water to wine. This involves power over chemical structure (matter), and, if he made fermented wine, as I believe he did, it involves power over time as well, since he made something old that was new.

And then John describes Jesus’ healing of the nobleman’s son. The interesting feature of this miracle is not the healing—Jesus did lots of those. Rather, it’s the distance; the boy was not in Jesus’ presence when he was healed. Jesus is not limited by geography.

So we find that Jesus holds authority over time and space—which is to say all four dimensions of the physical universe. And that’s just the first 2 of 7 sign miracles.

That’s comprehensive power.

After his ascension Jesus appears to Paul, in response to the apostle’s prayer for deliverance from his “thorn in the flesh.” He explains why he’s not going to deliver him—in this life—and then he says, “My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2Co 12.9). Now, grace is often a synonym for strength (here the two are in parallel), and Jesus tells Paul that whatever strength he needs, Jesus will have plenty.

You can’t make that promise if the number is finite.

• Immutability / Eternality

God never changes. The Scripture makes that observation about the Son as well: Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever (He 13.8). This despite the fact that his works have changed over time (Creator, Redeemer, Mediator, and King), and that at a point in time he added to his unchanging divine nature a human nature, which he will retain forever.

As I’ve noted earlier, a logical derivative from immutability is eternality, since to cease to exist would be, for God, a significant change.

And Jesus, we find, is eternal. In a statement that nearly got him executed on the spot, Jesus said to his opponents, “Before Abraham was, I am” (Jn 8.58). There’s a way to say “I was” in both Aramaic and Greek; but Jesus doesn’t say that. He says, “I am.”

Jesus’ understanding of grammar and style was not defective; he said what he meant. It’s likely, of course, that he was intentionally referring to the name by which Yahweh had revealed himself at the burning bush (Ex 3.14), which would be an even grander claim. But he is at least placing himself outside the bounds of time and in eternity.

Jesus has all the non-communicable divine attributes. That can be said only of someone who is God.

Next time we’ll look at another category of evidence—that Jesus does not only some, but all of the uniquely divine works.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Part 8: Deity 7 | Part 9: Deity 8 | Part 10: Deity 9  | Part 11: Humanity 1 | Part 12: Humanity 2 | Part 13: Humanity 3 | Part 14: Humanity 4 | Part 15: Unity 1 | Part 16: Unity 2 | Part 17: Unity 3

Part 1: Like No One Else | Part 2: Deity 1 | Part 3: Deity 2 | Part 4: Deity 3 | Part 5: Deity 4

The next category of evidence for Christ’s deity is passages that describe him with divine attributes.

First, a little background.

All of us have attributes—that is, characteristics. Some people are outgoing, others not so much. Some people are patient, others not.

God has attributes too; there are adjectives we can use to describe him. Some of those attributes are ones that we humans, and angels, can share, to one degree or other: we can be patient; we can be loving; we can be faithful.

But there are other attributes of God that we can’t share. Theologians traditionally speak of 4 of these “non-communicable” attributes: omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, and immutability, or changelessness. Most would include eternality as derived from this last one.*

So here’s the premise. If Jesus is said to have any of God’s non-communicable attributes, then he must be God. In fact, he’s said to have all of them. Let’s demonstrate that.

• Omniscience

It’s worth noting that during his earthly ministry Jesus voluntarily limited his independent use of his divine attributes, relying completely on his Father for what he needed to accomplish his mission (Jn 5.19, 30). When he needed to know something that an ordinary human couldn’t, the Father would reveal that to him (Jn 2.25; 4.17-18; Lk 6.7-8). At one point he even said that he didn’t know the answer to the disciples’ question (Mk 13.32).

But in addition to being voluntary, that limitation was temporary. Now exalted, he knows all things. To each of the 7 churches to which he writes letter in Revelation, he says, “I know your works” (Re 2.2, 9, 13, 19; 3.1, 8, 15). In one of those letters, he says, “I am he who searches mind and heart” (Re 2.23). The author of Hebrews writes, “No creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (He 4.13). Paul writes, “In [Christ]­ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Co 2.3).

• Omnipresence

Here we need to begin by observing that there are modes of God’s presence. In one sense he is seated on his throne in heaven—but of course he is everywhere. He is said to be in heaven but not in hell; he is said to be in the hearts of his people but not in the hearts of the lost. The Spirit is said to indwell all who believe, but not others (Ro 8.9).

It works similarly with the Son. He is seated at the right hand of the Father (Ac 2.34), where he stands to watch Stephen’s execution (Ac 7.55). He is “in you [believers], the hope of glory” (Co 1.27). In the Great Commission he says, “I am with you always, unto the end of the age” (Mt 28.20). And Paul calls Christ “him that filleth all in all” (Ep 1.23).

We’ll get to the other 2 non-communicable attributes next time.

* Notably, Charles Ryrie disagrees. He argues that we have defined the attributes to support the thesis. By calling God’s knowledge “omniscience” rather than “knowledge,” for example, we have made it something that we can’t share, thereby assuming our thesis. I find his point interesting, but I still see the distinction as valid. In any case, Ryrie’s point doesn’t invalidate the evidence here as arguing for the deity of Christ.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Part 7: Deity 6 | Part 8: Deity 7 | Part 9: Deity 8 | Part 10: Deity 9  | Part 11: Humanity 1 | Part 12: Humanity 2 | Part 13: Humanity 3 | Part 14: Humanity 4 | Part 15: Unity 1 | Part 16: Unity 2 | Part 17: Unity 3

Part 1: Like No One Else | Part 2: Deity 1 | Part 3: Deity 2 | Part 4: Deity 3

We have 3 more names or titles of Jesus that are appropriate only for God.

• Son of Man (Da 7.13)

This doesn’t sound like a divine title, does it? In fact, it doesn’t need to be; the term appears often applied to ordinary humans, even as a reminder that they are merely human (Nu 23.19; Job 25.6; Ps 8.4). It’s used a host of times in Ezekiel; God calls him “son of man” repeatedly, I think to remind him of both his weakness and his calling as a prophet, to bear God’s message to his fellow humans.

It’s also Jesus’ favorite name for himself (e.g. Mt 8.20; Mk 2.10; Lk 6.5; Jn 3.14). Is Jesus using it to say that he’s merely human? We wouldn’t know the answer to that question without a brief episode during his trial, recorded in both Matthew and Mark:

the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. ⁶⁴ Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven (Mt 26.63-64).

Here Jesus is quoting not Ezekiel, but Daniel. We read there (Da 7.13) of “one like the Son of Man” appearing before the throne of “the Ancient of Days” and being given an eternal kingdom. What is Daniel saying with this title? I thinking he’s expressing astonishment:

“So we’re in the very throne room of God, and here comes this … guy! Just an ordinary-looking guy! And God gives him a kingdom—an eternal one!”

And that is how Jesus is identifying himself before the high priest. He’s not just a prophet like Ezekiel; he may look ordinary, but he is the Eternal King.

The high priest understands him perfectly:

Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy (Mt 26.65).

The high priest knows a claim to deity when he hears it.

• Yahweh

Jesus is in fact identified as Yahweh, or Jehovah, multiple times in the Scripture. I’ve written a lengthy series on those passages here.

• Jesus

I suspect this one surprises you. “Jesus” is the Savior’s human name, like Bob or John or Ralph. It’s the equivalent of the name “Joshua,” and there are other Joshuas in Scripture, including two famous ones (Jos 1.1; Hag 1.1), neither of which is God. So how is that a divine title?

It wouldn’t be, without a specific word from God. That word arrives through an angel, in a dream of Jesus’ stepfather, Joseph (Mt 1.20-23). The angel instructs him,

she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins (Mt 1.21).

We read that sentence in English without having any idea what it means.

Have you noticed the little conjunction “for”? That connecting word indicates a causal link: Joseph must name the child “Joshua” because he will save his people from their sins.

What does the name have to do with his role as Savior?

I think Joseph, and anyone else who knew Hebrew, would recognize immediately what the angel was saying. It has to do with the meaning of the Hebrew name.

“Joshua,” you see, means “Jehovah saves.”

“Name him ‘Jehovah saves,’ ” says the angel, because he will save his people from their sins.”

And Joseph pauses, swallows hard, and thinks, “The baby—the fetus—is Jehovah?!”

There’s not a chance in the world that he could get his brain around that concept.

But he believes. And he obeys.

And all of us, my believing friends, are better for it.

So we have 6 titles or names of Jesus that are appropriate only for deity.

Next time we’ll explore a third category of evidence.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Part 6: Deity 5 | Part 7: Deity 6 | Part 8: Deity 7 | Part 9: Deity 8 | Part 10: Deity 9  | Part 11: Humanity 1 | Part 12: Humanity 2 | Part 13: Humanity 3 | Part 14: Humanity 4 | Part 15: Unity 1 | Part 16: Unity 2 | Part 17: Unity 3

Part 1: Like No One Else | Part 2: Deity 1 | Part 3: Deity 2

In the previous two posts we considered 7 passages in which the Scripture explicitly calls Jesus God. There are translational questions around 3 of the 7, but even in those cases the evidence strongly supports a statement of Jesus’ deity.

But beyond those—and 7 is the number of completeness, isn’t it? :-)—there is still considerable evidence for Christ’s deity. I’ll turn now to passages where titles or names appropriate only for God are ascribed to Jesus. Let me suggest 6, the last of which will surprise you.

• Immanuel (Is 7.14; Mt 1.23)

Isaiah prophesies that one born to a virgin will be called “Immanuel,” which in Hebrew means “God [is] with us.” Now, it’s true that Hebrew names can speak of God’s attributes (we call those “theophoric” names) without implying deity in the bearer; my own personal name, Daniel, means “God [is] my Judge,” with no implication that I am “God my Judge.” If all we had to go on was Isaiah’s prophecy, we might have an ambiguity here. But the key to understanding Isaiah’s intent is that Matthew, also writing under inspiration, says that Joseph’s stepson fulfills this prophecy of a virgin birth and of the title “Immanuel.” And Matthew emphasizes the deity of this child by translating the Hebrew, even though his Jewish readers would likely have been able to translate it themselves.

Am I reading too much into Matthew’s intent? I don’t think so. At the other end of his Gospel, he records this child, now a man, commissioning his disciples:

All power [authority] is given unto me in heaven and in earth. ¹⁹ Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: ²⁰ Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world (Mt 28.18-20).

This is divine language. This child is more than just someone named “Immanuel.”

• Lord

It’s true that the word “Lord” is not always a divine title; in Elizabethan England, people would refer to those of higher social status as “my lord,” much the way we would use “sir” today. And there are clearly places in the Bible where the word is used that way (Mt 13.27; 21.30; 27.63; and many other places, especially in John’s writings).

But there are occasions where Jesus is called “Lord” in which the word “Sir” would be wildly out of place. Let me cite just a few:

unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Sir (Lk 2.11).

“My Sir and my God!” (Jn 20.28).

to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Sir Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him (1Co 8.6).

And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND SIR OF SIRS (Re 19.16).

OK, that’s enough ridiculousness. The breadth of contexts over which Jesus is addressed as “Lord” is testament to his deity.

• Son of God

Now, it’s indisputable that the Bible calls persons “sons of God” who are not in fact divine. Angels are described this way (Ge 6.2, 4; Job 1.6; 2.1; 38.7), and we Christians are as well (Jn 1.12; Ro 8.14, 19; Php 2.15; 1J 3.1-2). But that’s always in the plural; no one is ever called “a son of God” or “the son of God” besides Jesus.

Further, the title is used in contexts that clearly evidence deity. Peter’s great confession ascribes the title to Jesus (Mt 16.16), after which Jesus proceeds to speak of himself in terms that assume deity: he will build his church; he will give Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven (Mt 16.18-19). And even Jesus’ enemies, who deny his deity, hear the words as a divine claim (Jn 5.18; 10.33).

There are 3 more titles or names of Jesus that identify him as God; we’ll cover those in the next post.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Part 5: Deity 4 | Part 6: Deity 5 | Part 7: Deity 6 | Part 8: Deity 7 | Part 9: Deity 8 | Part 10: Deity 9  | Part 11: Humanity 1 | Part 12: Humanity 2 | Part 13: Humanity 3 | Part 14: Humanity 4 | Part 15: Unity 1 | Part 16: Unity 2 | Part 17: Unity 3

Part 1: Like No One Else | Part 2: Deity 1

In the previous post we considered three passages that explicitly assert that Jesus is God. Let’s try to get to four more here.

• whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen (Ro 9.5).

In the context (Ro 9.1-4) Paul is talking about the privileges Israel has had in God’s plan. Here he climaxes that list by saying that the Messiah is biologically an Israelite. And then he says that this person is “over all, God blessed forever.”

There’s a little wrinkle in this one too. The original manuscripts of the Scripture had no punctuation and no spaces between words, so later copyists and translators had to do a little interpretation. Here the Revised Standard Version splits the words into two sentences:

to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ. God who is over all be blessed for ever. Amen.

Now, that’s theoretically possible. But I reject that rendering outright, for a fairly simple reason: the RSV has turned the ending into a benediction, and that’s not the form that benedictions typically take. In Greek it’s common to emphasize a word by putting it at the front of the sentence. In a benediction, then, you typically put the word “blessed” first (Lk 1.68; 2Co 1.3; Ep 1.3; 1P 1.3); that’s the whole point of the benediction.

Here, however, Paul puts the word “God” first—because he’s emphasizing it. “This Jewish man, this ordinary-looking guy? He’s [pause for effect] GOD!!!!”

Like the Jehovah’s Witnesses in John 1.1, I think the RSV translators are showing their (liberal) theological bias here. The New RSV (1989), FWIW, let the deity of Christ show through by translating the passage as a single sentence.

• looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus (Ti 2.13 NASB95).

I’ve used the NASB here because it renders the underlying Greek more clearly than the KJV, which is slightly ambiguous (the great God and our Saviour—is that one person or two?). The Greek construction unambiguously indicates that the two nouns are the same person. This construction is called “the Granville Sharp rule,” named for the nineteeth-century African missionary who discovered it. The KJV translators can hardly be faulted for not knowing about the rule in 1611; they translated it literally, which is just fine.

• But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom (He 1.8).

This is a quotation of Psalm 45.6—Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: The sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.

The JWs render this “God is your throne.” Again, as in John 1.1, this is a possible rendering of the Greek, but not the most likely one. Dan Wallace, who is perhaps the leading living Greek scholar, and the author of the most highly recognized Greek grammar (the 800-page Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics), thinks “God” in this verse should be translated as direct address for four reasons (p 59), of which I’ll mention just two. First, the Hebrew accenting of Psalm 45.6 indicates that God is being addressed; and second, the Greek sentence here (He 1.7-8) is constructed as a contrast (“on the one hand … on the other hand”), and in the JW translation that contrast completely disappears. (“On the one hand, the angels are merely his servants; on the other hand, the Son is also under God’s authority.”)

• And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life (1J 5.20).

One more little wrinkle. The verse is clearly referencing two persons: the Father (“him that is true”) and “his Son Jesus Christ.” Which of those two persons is John calling “the true God”?

The Greek doesn’t help us here; both “the true one” and “the Son” are masculine nouns, and the masculine pronoun “this one” could refer back to either. Both possible antecedents are near enough that either one is reasonably possible. But since “Son” is the nearer one, then I would prefer it, all other things being equal.

That’s my list of seven passages that explicitly call Jesus God. Next time we’ll look at another category of biblical evidence.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Part 4: Deity 3 | Part 5: Deity 4 | Part 6: Deity 5 | Part 7: Deity 6 | Part 8: Deity 7 | Part 9: Deity 8 | Part 10: Deity 9  | Part 11: Humanity 1 | Part 12: Humanity 2 | Part 13: Humanity 3 | Part 14: Humanity 4 | Part 15: Unity 1 | Part 16: Unity 2 | Part 17: Unity 3

Part 1: Like No One Else

In the previous post I noted that the deity of Christ is an extraordinary claim. We Christians are used to it, but to anyone else it sounds simply unbelievable. If someone today claims to be God, you plan an intervention, or you avoid him; you certainly don’t sign on as a disciple.

An extraordinary claim calls for extraordinary evidence. I’d like to marshal some of that.

Now, all of my evidence is going to be from the Bible, and that calls for another comment. What about the people who don’t believe the Bible?

Fair question. I believe that the Bible is the Word of God, although that’s an extraordinary claim too. I find that conclusion to be reasonable based on testable, falsifiable, objective evidence from the Bible itself. I’ve written another series on that here.

These days there are plenty of people who do claim to view the Bible as the Word of God—in one sense or another—who still deny the deity of Christ. I don’t find that to be a defensible position, given the overwhelming biblical evidence. In my mind I sort that evidence into five categories:

• Explicit assertions
• Divine titles and names
• Divine attributes
• Divine works
• Acceptance of worship

Let’s jump right into the first category.

I find seven places where the Bible directly and explicitly calls Jesus God.

• In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (Jn 1.1).

The context of the passage (Jn 1.14-18) makes it clear that “the Word” is Jesus. Now, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, in their New World Translation, notoriously translate “God” here as “a god.” I don’t recommend that you argue with a JW about this, because he’ll admit that he doesn’t know Greek, and, frankly, you probably don’t either, and I can’t think of anything less fruitful than two people who don’t know Greek arguing about what the Greek says. I will say that the JW translation is excusable from a first-year Greek student, but inexcusable from anyone with more Greek than that. And I’ll also note that this same chapter has four other places (Jn 1.6, 12, 13, 18) with the same construction (to be nerdy, an anarthrous use of θεος), and in all four places the JW “Bible” translates it as “God.” So they’re not even following their own [amateurish] principle. It’s abundantly clear that their translation choice in this verse is driven solely by their theology.

It says what it says.

The next proof text is in the same chapter.

• No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him (Jn 1.18 NASB95).

There’s a little wrinkle on this one: there’s a textual variant, which is why the KJV has “the only begotten Son.” I prefer the reading above, for two reasons: first, because it’s a lot easier to imagine how a scribe would change “God” to “Son,” in an attempt to explain a difficult reading (“begotten God”?!), than vice versa; and second, because “the only begotten Son,” coming right out of the famous John 3.16, would be familiar language to any scribe.

[Sidebar: I don’t think “begotten God” is a problem, because I view the underlying Greek word, monogenes, as meaning “one of a kind” rather than “only begotten.” (For an opposing view, see here.) I won’t go into that here, but if you want to talk about it, drop me an email. You don’t have to know Greek to understand the issue.]

Now, if you prefer the majority text, or the Byzantine text, or the KJV reading, I won’t criticize your choice or attempt to change your mind. That just means that you’ll have only six explicit assertions instead of seven.

• “My Lord and my God!” (Jn 20.28).

These are Thomas’s words after Jesus showed him the wounds in his hands and side. Years ago I showed this passage to a Jehovah’s Witness, and he replied that actually the Greek says “My Lord of my God.” I pulled out a Greek New Testament to show him that it doesn’t, and he admitted that he didn’t know Greek. And then he suggested that maybe the translation was correct, but that Thomas meant it more as an exclamation than a description.

Hmm.

Taking the JW position, how likely is it that Jesus, the first created being, the head of all the angelic host, heard a disciple violate the Second Commandment and didn’t think that was worth addressing?

Yeah, me neither.

It says what it says.

More next time. This is gonna be a long series.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Part 3: Deity 2 | Part 4: Deity 3 | Part 5: Deity 4 | Part 6: Deity 5 | Part 7: Deity 6 | Part 8: Deity 7 | Part 9: Deity 8 | Part 10: Deity 9  | Part 11: Humanity 1 | Part 12: Humanity 2 | Part 13: Humanity 3 | Part 14: Humanity 4 | Part 15: Unity 1 | Part 16: Unity 2 | Part 17: Unity 3