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There's No Doubt About Christ's Deity
Recently I got an email from a “christian cult” member. He called me a liar because I said Jesus is God. I use the term “christian cult” to designate groups that use the Bible as part of their false doctrine.(1)
It’s interesting how Satan has incorporated this heresy into a number of “christian cults.”
Beginning with his first lie in the Garden (Genesis 3:4-5), Satan has been deceiving people about God’s true character. And christian cults are one of his devious methods.
There was only one way that the righteous requirements of the law could be fulfilled, the only way we could be saved: God Himself had to take the form of a man and die for our sins (Romans 5:6-8; Romans 8:1-4; Philippians 2:5-8). If Jesus were simply a man and not God, we would not be saved.
But Jesus is God!
There are many Scriptures proving Christ's deity, both directly and indirectly. I've listed some below.
You might want to pin, bookmark, or print this devotion so you have this list in your "toolbox" when explaining or defending your faith.
Jesus is clearly referred to as God in these Scriptures:
John 1:1 and 1:14: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God....The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1:18: "No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known."
Titus 2:13: "while we wait for the blessed hope--the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ…,"
2 Peter 1:1: "Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours...."
Isaiah 7:14: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” [“Immanuel” means “God with us.”]
Jesus existed before His time on earth:
John 8:58: "'Very truly I tell you,' Jesus answered, 'before Abraham was born, I am!'"
Hebrews 13:8: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."
1 Corinthians 10:2-4: "They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ."
Philippians 2:5-8: "In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!"
Scripture forbids worshiping anyone or anything besides God:
Revelation 19:9-10: "Then the angel said to me, 'Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!' And he added, 'These are the true words of God.' At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, 'Don't do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.'"
But Jesus is worshiped throughout Scripture:
He is worshiped as a baby:
Matthew 2:11
Jesus allows people to worship Him:
Matthew 14:33; Matthew 28:9; Matthew 28:17; Luke 24:52; John 9:38
Jesus, as part of the Trinity, is the Creator:
Hebrews 1: "In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word…. 6 And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, 'Let all God’s angels worship him.' …8 about the Son he says, 'Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom….' 10 He also says, 'In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.'"
Colossians 1:15-17: "Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together."
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(1) Christian cults are not Christian but claim to be. Satan uses half-truths to trap people in this type of cult. They accept some of what Scripture teaches and use words that sound similar, but the underlying meaning is different. Two prominent cults which deny Christ’s deity (as defined in Scripture) are Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. Jehovah's Witnesses clearly say that Jesus is not God. Mormons (LDS) have an evolving and confusing view of Jesus that is hard to pin down. This article should prove helpful: "Is the Mormon Jesus the Brother of Satan?"
In the Jehovah's Witnesses' New World "translation" they use little "g" for god in passages where Jesus is referred to as God, or they add conjunctions not found in the Greek so that it reads "God and the Savior." There is no basis for these changes. They have simply manipulated the text to fit their beliefs. However, many of the passages above read the same in the New World translation, so their translation has not completely removed proofs that Jesus is God. Mormons use the King James Version of the Bible, but they claim it has been corrupted, and they claim it is only a partial revelation and needs to be supplemented by their other "holy books." See The Mormon "Word of God" and "When Angels Tell Lies".
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I asked a j.w. recently if he believed Jesus is the Son of God, he said yes. I then asked did he believe Jesus was God the Son.
ReplyDeleteThe answer was No. This shows the mistruths they have been taught.
You wouldn’t believe how many Christians I talk to do not understand this mystery.
DeleteThis is a huge need in the Christian community…I can’t tell you how many Christians I talk to, do not understand this mystery.
ReplyDelete