Thoughts on the Trinity and The divinity of Jesus
By:William P. Bishop
I am constantly amazed and dismayed at how many people are questioning the divinity of Jesus. One hears and reads that Jesus was a good man and teacher. He is the Archangel Michael. He was a prophet.
Friends, don’t let Satan deceive you. Jesus is God! Jesus and God are the same. Jesus never was and never will be an angel. To those that would like to claim that Scriptures never say that Jesus is God, or that nobody ever prayed to Jesus in the Bible, then please follow along as I quote chapter and verse right out of the Bible. At the end of this article I will also quote chapter and verse on how a person can go about being saved. Finally, I will show you Scriptures that debunk salvation by works. With the false teachings of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Mormons, the myriad beliefs of the New Age, and many other cults, I feel it imperative to set the record straight.
To those that claim that Jesus is an angel, I would like to quote the following:
Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. (COLOSSIANS 2:18-19)
This passage as well as all the others I will quote are from the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible.
Paul is specifically warning us not to fall into the trap of assigning to Christ a place subordinate to the true Godhead. Paul combats this heresy in these verses:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (COLOSSIANS 1:15-20)
What do people say to a father when they look at his son? “Why he is the image of his father.” So it is with God. Jesus is the only begotten son of God. Not his creation. By the way, I would like to point out the last word in the Scriptures I just quoted. It’s the word cross. Jesus shed his blood for our sins on the cross, not the torture pole as the Jehovah’s Witnesses claim. Did you notice that it says “by him all things were created”?
What about the claim that the Bible never, ever calls Jesus God? Let’s clear that one up right now for once and for all.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. (ISAIAH 9:6-7)
The description of Jesus is clear and unequivocal. He is called the Prince of Peace and Mighty God. Please note that he is not called a god. There is an important distinction. Many cults try to deflect the divinity of Jesus by stating he is a god. This is obviously false as the next verses will indicate.
So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father”? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”? And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.” In speaking of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire.” But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteous will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy. He also says, In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. (HEBREWS 1:4-10)
Can anything be clearer than what I just quoted? God calls the son God. ALL angels worship him, and that also means the Archangel Michael. I don’t think all means anything less than what is says. Then again later God says that Jesus laid the foundations of the earth. If you would, please turn to Job 38:4 where it says: “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me if you understand.”
The correlation is impossible to confuse. In Hebrews God says Jesus laid out the foundations of the earth. Yet in Job, an Old Testament Book, God says he laid the foundations. Now, either the Bible is false or God and Jesus are one and the same. The fact that the Trinity is hard for us mortal folks to understand has been obvious for centuries. That, however does not make the concept false. The only falsehood we have seen so far can be attributed to those that would make Jesus less than God.
One of the most compelling passages showing that Jesus is God can be found in the following passage of Scripture:
Then Jesus cried out, “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. (JOHN 12:44-45)
It’s awful hard to explain away the meaning of “When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. The meaning is clear, if you look upon Jesus you see God. The fact that humans do not fully understand the Trinity does not somehow make the Trinity invalid. Indeed, it really proves that the Trinity exists because if we were to fully understand the Trinity, then we would also fully understand God. To make such a claim is of course, sheer blasphemy.
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. (COLOSSIANS 2:9-10)
I don’t think I need to comment on these verses at all. The total meaning and beauty stand there for all who will look to see.
“The days are coming”, declares the LORD, “when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.” (JEREMIAH 23:5-6)
Please note that the first LORD applies to God Almighty, and the last LORD applies to Jesus. The term LORD Our Righteousness is JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU! Is anybody out there still in doubt as to whether Jesus is God or not? Well, just in case there is, please let me continue.
While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he”? “The son of David,” they replied. He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking
by the Spirit, calls him Lord? For he says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”‘ “If then David calls him ‘Lord’, how can he be his son?” (MATTHEW 22:41-45)
The devastating thrust of this paradoxical question was how David could call one of his sons ‘Lord’, a title for God Himself, if his son was only a man, or angel. Jesus could just as well have asked this question to any number of the different cult leaders active today.
A lot is made of the fact that Jesus came to us in human form and by that fact somehow Jesus is not God. Cultists love to point out that Jesus came to us to do the will of God, not realizing that Jesus
is God. I see no contradiction here. The fact of the matter is that Jesus did temporarily put aside some of His powers while He was in the form of a man. Look at Philippians 2:5-8:
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 death on a cross!
God knew that we would have problems trying to understand the Trinity, and here again tells us just that. The fact that folks can’t understand something does not alter the fact of its existence. Once again I would also like to point out that Jesus died on the cross and not some pole. Why some folks can’t even get that right is beyond me.
Now let’s look at one of the most powerful and oft-debated verses in the book of John.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. (JOHN 1:1-4)
The Jehovahs Witness new Bible, called “The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures” tries to change this part of Scripture to where it says “the Word was a god”. A subtle change of words, but oh how radical the change in meaning. This translation has been thoroughly disavowed by Biblical scholars because of the fact that the translation makes such blatant and obvious changes to the word of the Lord. The reason they felt they had to change the meaning of this verse is obvious. In this one little verse John totally destroys any doubt about the Deity of Jesus. “In the beginning” does not, as some believe mean the beginning of the world. This really means forever. Please pay particular attention to the fact that “NOTHING was made that has been made.” The emphasis is mine because I wanted to clearly point out Jesus could not be a created being because “nothing was made that has been made” without Jesus. At this point it would be fair to ask why Jesus never specifically called Himself God but rather only
the Son of God. The answer lies in how Jesus came to us the first time. He came as a simple and humble human being. A carpenter. That is how He came to the world. His mission of course was to become the
perfect sacrifice for our sins. As far as I know, He never once claimed to be God. The situation changes once Jesus died and ascended into Heaven. Look how radically different Jesus speaks in the book of
Revelation.
I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” (REVELATION 1:8)
This is Jesus Christ speaking. He is telling us He is God, not some angel, not some avatar, not some good man or teacher or prophet, but GOD ALMIGHTY! To deny that Jesus is God is to deny the book of Revelation, indeed the entire Bible because I have shown passages of not only the New Testament but also right out of the Old Testament. Do not let Satan deceive you in this matter.
What about those that would claim that nobody ever prays to Jesus? Please read Acts 7:59-60:
While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
So how does a person become “SAVED” and have life everlasting? Please read the following verses:
That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. (ROMANS 10:9-10)
Please note the importance of publicly and openly stating “Jesus is Lord”. Do you now see and understand why I made such a point of quoting so many Scriptures to show you that “Jesus is Lord”?
It is by accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior that you are saved. Not by anything you could buy or earn. Please read on:
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (ROMANS 3:20-24)
You will not be able to buy or work your way to salvation. The only way is through faith in Jesus Christ. That is it. How simple could God make it for us? How can anybody get this wrong?
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (EPHESIANS 2:8-10)
It’s not by handing out zillions of tracts or giving thousands of dollars that you become a Christian. Don’t let anybody fool you. There is only one way and that is believing that Jesus Christ is Lord and that He died for our sins on the cross.
Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
This is the one who came by water and blood – Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. (1 John 5:6-7)
Finally, I wish to define the word Lord. Unger’s Bible Dictionary defines the word Lord as:
1. Jehovah (Yahweh) or self-existent
2. Adon or one who has absolute control
3. Adonai meaning THE LORD (Exodus 4:10)
4. he to whom a person or thing belongs
5. Baal or heathen deity
6. Several other less important titles were translated as Lord from the Greek text.
As you can see from the definitions, in not one instance is Lord be construed as anything but God. Not some angel or wise man. Definitions one through 4 clearly refer to Deity, while definitions 5 and 6 obviously do not apply to the Lord since He is neither heathen nor unimportant. It’s absolutely mind-boggling how anybody can get the Lord’s title so wrong. Lord equals God! Even the secular Dictionaries in use today at least include Jehovah and Jesus among their definitions for Lord. Don’t be mislead. Jesus is The Lord!
May the Lord be with you.
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