back to kingdomready.org

Lately the old arguments about the Trinity have surfaced once again.  In light of that I will be posting a series from my website.  Topics to be covered will be:

Part 1 - Overview
Part 2 - Is Jesus Called God?
Part 3 - God’s Agent
Part 4 - Where is the Proof?
Part 5 - History and Development
Part 6 - Jesus Had To Be A Man 

Overview
Throughout the Old Testament, there were prophecies and promises of One who was to come. When Jesus of Nazareth came preaching the Gospel, he declared that he was that Messiah. The word Messiah comes from the Hebrew word mashiyach, while the word Christ comes from the Greek word christos. Both words mean the same thing: the anointed one. How ironic that many people who call themselves “Christian” don’t know the meaning of the word “Christ.”

There were other “anointed ones” who were anointed to be priests and kings in the Hebrew Scriptures, but there were prophecies that one specific person, the anointed one, would come. He would be the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15), a prophet like unto Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15,18-19), a king from the royal line of David (II Samuel 7:12-16), and the Messiah and Son of God (Psalm 2:2,6,7), who will judge the world in righteousness (Psalm 9:8; 72:2,4; 96:10,13; Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3).

Interestingly, the prophecies never involved the idea of God coming down to earth in the form of a man. That idea would have been unthinkable to the Jews. It stems from pagan mythology and philosophy, and was actually not a part of orthodox Christian doctrine for the first two hundred years after Christ. The most sacred prayer for Israel is the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.” The Old Testament frequently stressed that God was “one” and there was no other (Deuteronomy 4:35,39; 32:39; Isaiah 44:6,8,24; Isaiah 43:10; 45:5,12,14,18,21,22; 46:9; Malachi 2:10). Jesus himself confirmed this strict monotheism. He quoted the Shema in Mark 12:29 and addressed the Father as “the only true God.”

John 17:
1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
3 This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Paul likewise declared that there was one God, the Father; and one lord, Jesus Christ, the man who is the mediator between God and man.

I Corinthians 8:
6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

Ephesians 4:
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

I Timothy 2:
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

The common belief among most Christians is that Jesus is God. But he never claimed to be God, he always said he was the son of God (Matthew 27:43; John 9:35-37; 10:36). If he were God, he could not be the Son of God. To be a “son” means you are the offspring of someone, and by definition you are not the one whose offspring you are. To be the Son of God means you are not God. He stressed that he and God were two separate people who bore witness of him (John 8:17-18). This does not mean that he was “just a man” as some might claim. He is not an ordinary man by any means. He is the unique, only-begotten son of God, conceived supernaturally by God’s spirit in the womb of Mary. But he never claimed to be “God the Son” which is quite different from “the Son of God.”

There are a number of specifically stated differences between God and His Son, Jesus:

* God cannot die (I Timothy 6:16), but Jesus died.
* God cannot be tempted (James 1:13), but Jesus was tempted in all things, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15).
* God is omniscient, i.e. He knows all things (I John 3:20), but Jesus said there were things that he did not know, including when he would return (Mark 13:32).
* God is omnipotent, i.e. all powerful, but Jesus said he could do nothing of himself without the Father (John 5:30).
* Jesus said that his doctrine was not his own, but His that sent him, and then differentiated between God and himself, emphasizing that he sought God’s glory and not his own (John 7:16-18).
* Jesus made a distinction between himself and God, saying there is none good but one, that is, God (Mark 10:17-18).
* Jesus prayed to God (Luke 6:12). If he were God, he would have been talking to himself.
* Jesus was the Lamb of God (John 1:29,36), the perfect sacrifice to God. How could he sacrifice himself to himself? Jesus was the perfect sacrifice to God on behalf of mankind.
* Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19; Romans 8:34; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 10:12; I Peter 3:22). If he were God, how could he sit on his own right hand?

The Scriptures clearly declare that the Father is the only true God. If Jesus is also God then you would have two Gods. This is gotten around by the doctrine of the Trinity. It states that there are three persons in one God. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. They are three co-equal and co-eternal persons, yet they are but one God. Besides being illogical and mathematically impossible, there is simply no Scripture that declares such a thing.

To Be Continued…