Hello friends and readers! Long time no see, at least in this study of the deity of Jesus Christ. Way back in February we started a study on the deity, or non deity in some quarters, of Jesus Christ. Life interrupted, and we took a small hiatus from the series. It is now time to continue on and work our way to our conclusion.
Since it has been so long since our last installment in the series, today we will keep it light, and not dig too deeply into the meat of what Scripture teaches about the deity of Jesus. That is the point, however, where we are in our study. We have covered other things related to the topic, and all we have left is to understand what God’s own Word teaches us on this topic. So, today will mostly be a recap of what we have already covered, and what is coming up.
In Was Jesus Really God? Part 1-Does It Really Matter? ,we discussed the absolute centrality and necessity of this doctrine to historical orthodox Christianity. We discussed the essential nature of the deity of Jesus Christ as a major part of how His death on the cross was actually able to pay for the sins of mankind
In Was Jesus Really God? Part 2- The Hypostatic Union For Dummies we made a quite feeble attempt to discuss the Hypostatic Union, or the incomprehensible melding of Jesus as 100 percent man and 100 percent God in one being.
In Was Jesus Really God? Part 3-Attacks On the Divinity of Jesus Christ we covered some of the major attacks on this doctrine, both historically and currently and provided some very informative links to additional reading.
In Was Jesus Really God? Part 4-Why Don’t We Believe In Jesus? we covered mainly the doubts of this vital doctrine coming from supposed “Christian” quarters, and why people hold to doubt about it. We also arrived at the conclusion that those who deny the deity of Jesus, are desperately in need of Jesus, and are not truly Christian in any meaningful sense of the word.
So, here we are.
Hey, Jesus never said He was God!!!
That is the common argument made to support the contention that Jesus never claimed divinity. Hmm..ok..yeah He never said those words. I guess I am done here.
Ok, not really.
If you are reading this, and are a doubter of Jesus’ claims, other people’s claims, and the claim of God’s Word as a whole, then a lesson in proper Bible interpretation is coming. First, the Bible is not a collection of verses with no relationship to each other which can be plucked out and hurled at random to prove whatever a person want. The Bible is a STORY. It is the story of the creation, fall, and ultimate redemption of God’s creation through Jesus Christ. Any doctrine supported, or not supported, always has to be looked at through the lens of the redemption narrative which runs from the first verse in Genesis to the last verse in Revelation.
Next, within the Bible, any given passage or narrative always has to be looked at through the lens of history, culture, and language. The English words most of us read sometimes have much more meaning than just the simple way we may see them without putting on those lenses when we read.
My point here is that, no, Jesus never uttered the words, “I am God.” Fair enough, but yet not enough. By looking and interpreting the things we read, we will find during the rest of this study, that Jesus did make claims of his own divinity, and that the people around Him clearly understood what He was claiming.
Let’s just look briefly at some things we will consider over the next few weeks:
Jesus did make claims that he and God were the same being
Jesus often claimed equality with God
Even Jesus’ enemies understood He claimed to be God in the flesh.
Jesus clearly claimed attributes and rights only to be given to or by God
Jesus was worshiped and accepted the worship of others
Various authors of the Bible clearly understood the divinity of Jesus in their inspired writings
That is where we are heading over the next few weeks. I hope you will follow along and be blessed as we move along.
April 11, 2016 at 08:06
Love this, Wally. I really like how you talked about the bible being a story and how scripture must be taken in context.
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April 11, 2016 at 08:30
Thanks IB. It’s so true isn’t it? When we isolate tiny parts just to prove our point, we always mess it up. But, that takes effort and study, when the cut and past approach is so much easier, especially when our goal is to force God’s Word into our presuppositions.
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April 11, 2016 at 10:11
Looking forward to more, Wally!
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April 11, 2016 at 10:42
Thanks Kathy!
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April 11, 2016 at 18:14
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
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April 11, 2016 at 19:01
Love the points at the bottom stating why Christ Jesus is God.
Jesus also said: “I and My Father are one”
The Jews tried to stone Him for blasphemy- claiming to be God! I believe you stated this in an earlier post, that the only way this claim could not be blasphemous was unless Jesus was telling the truth! [Things that make you go hmmm]
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April 11, 2016 at 19:13
They do make me go hmmmm….should make other people too, but I can personally attest I have visitors right here on this blog who rabidly deny the deity of Jesus. In fact, I am rather surprised they have not shown up yet, especially since I called them by name in an earlier installment.
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April 11, 2016 at 19:20
I’m LOL that you’ve called them by name.
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April 11, 2016 at 19:25
I did. Yep. And I mean no ill will about it at all. But it’s typical of cults identifying themselves as Christian. They are what they are, but Christian is not it. I don’t mean that hatefully at all, but sometimes we need to know is not of us.
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April 11, 2016 at 19:31
Oh no! I didn’t think you meant ill or being hateful!
It’s great to call things as they are without fear of man. In this regard you remind me of one of my favorite teachers because he’s unafraid to call people out – even his friends – because he’s not doing it from a place of hate or gotcha! but usually as a lesson. I admire that.
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April 11, 2016 at 19:36
Well I gotta say, WordPress has been a growing experience? Do you recall my comment about crazy word of Faith guys? LOL. That’s actually what got you and I talking in the first place really, was me spouting my mouth off. And you were so kind about it when you could have been not that way.
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April 11, 2016 at 19:45
LOL… I do remember.
I agree it’s been a growing experience for me as well. I’ve grown in how I choose to respond to people – still growing obviously.
I think sometimes we take disagreements as personal attacks, and in reality all we have to offer are our opinions back by personal experiences – both of which need not remain as it currently is.
Everyone of us is growing – so we’re always learning, always stretching beyond our current knowledge and experiences.
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April 11, 2016 at 20:05
Well, all I can say is I can’t wait to get to heaven so Jesus will tell all you guys how wrong you were.
🙂
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April 11, 2016 at 20:32
HAHAHA! Good one!
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April 11, 2016 at 20:32
🙂
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April 11, 2016 at 20:34
This conversation has inspired a post by the way, which I may have to get around to writing while the idea is still vibrant. Otherwise it will sit in drafts until I don’t even remember why it is there.
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May 3, 2016 at 17:39
I also love that He forgave specific people their sins. Huge. (That’s probably coming up, just haven’t read that far yet.)
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May 3, 2016 at 19:27
Ha..it does come up later, I don’t remember exactly where, but it does.
It’s really one of the strongest claims to deity Jesus made. We all understand only God forgives sin, so if Jesus forgave, and He did, then he by default it claiming deity. It’s basically a non refutable argument.
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May 6, 2016 at 20:39
Reblogged this on Redbird's Roost.
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September 1, 2017 at 15:59
Love this post Wally. I currently work as a home care attendant and both of my clients are Jehovah Witnesses and I do my best to not debate with them but when they showed me a scripture n their Bible that said Jesus was a god (little god) I did let them know that on this I would not agree with. I treat them with respect and I have grown very fond of them but as Jesus said He and the Father are one and no one comes to the Father except through Him. Thanks for this series.
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September 1, 2017 at 16:02
Julie, Bless your efforts with those two; it won’t be easy to make headway with them. I pray maybe something in this series will help. I was wondering why I felt led to re run it. Maybe it was for those folks.
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September 1, 2017 at 16:11
It definitely helps me and has reminded me of scriptures I need when I am talking with them
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September 1, 2017 at 16:12
Amen!
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September 1, 2017 at 16:00
Reblogged this on emotionalpeace.
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