One of the most attacked doctrines of the New Testament is the Deity, or Divinity, of Jesus Christ. It is attacked by numerous cults, the Jehovah’s Witnesses being the biggest offenders. In their writings they have stated, “So again note that Jesus never spoke of Himself as God or called himself God. He always put himself below God rather than on an equality with God.” (The Word - Who Is He, pg. 40.) Furthermore, they’ve made the following statements, “That Jehovah was truly the Father or Life-giver to this firstborn Son and, hence, that this Son was actually a creature of God, is evident from Jesus’ own statements.” (Aid To Bible Understanding, pg. 918) and “Scripture evidence indicates that the name Michael applied to God’s Son before he left Heaven to become Jesus Christ and also after his return.” (Aid To Bible Understanding, pg. 1152).

Aside from the cults, there is another source that attacks Christ’s Deity, the modern translations. Check out the tip of the iceberg in the following verses - Jn 1:18; Ac 8:37; 20:28; 1 Tim 3:16; 1 Jn 5:7,8. These verses are a few of the many that deny His rightful position as God.

The following series of articles will address the issues concerning the Deity of Christ. First of all, the direct scripture references will be examined. Secondly, a comparison of scripture with scripture will be broached. Thirdly, the attributes common to both Jesus and Jehovah will be looked at, and fourthly, shared actions will be analyzed. Beyond these, a further examination will be made of the shared titles, the interpretation of fulfilled messianic prophecies, and the testimony of the early church fathers.

The following ten scriptures are direct references to the Deity of Christ, followed by some thought-provoking questions.

Jn. 5:18 - “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.”

Jesus, in this text, is revealing two things about Himself. One, He purposely violated the Pharisaical concept of the sabbath in order to teach them about the true sabbath, which he did on numerous occasions. Furthermore, Jesus tells us that He was not alone in performing the healing of the impotent man but His Father also participated (V.17). So is the Father guilty of violating the fourth commandment? Or are the Jewish leaders misguided? More important, however, He is revealing to them what His Sonship is all about. When Jesus says He is the Son of God, He is alternately saying that God is His Father. By making that statement, He is claiming equality with God.

Jn. 14:9 - “Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?”

So seeing Jesus was the same as seeing God!

Jn. 20:28 - “And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.”

Was Thomas just expressing surprise at seeing the risen Christ, exclaiming something to the effect, “Oh, my God?” If Thomas had done this he would have been guilty of taking God”s name in vain. Jews of the first century believe that any careless use of God’s name amounted to blasphemy. If Thomas took God’s name in vain, wouldn’t Jesus have rebuked Him? Why did Jesus commend Thomas instead of rebuking him? One other note. The Greek, that the Jehovah’s Witnesses run to for their “proofs” in opposing Christ’s deity, here goes contrary to their supposed interpretation. The Greek in this text says “…ο κυριος μου και ο θεος μου.” I’ve made bold the definite article and the reading would be “the Lord of me and the God of me.” That’s exactly as the Kingdom Interlinear Translation (JW) has it. So much for the “a god” concept here!

Lk. 1:41 - “And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: 42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”

Interesting statement! Elisabeth, filled with the Holy Ghost, speaks out and refers to the unborn Christ as her Lord. Who could she possibly be referring to other than her Lord, Jehovah?

Heb. 1:8 - “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.”

The truth of this text is incontrovertible in the real Bible. However, the New World Translation published by the JW’s, makes an absolute mess out of the text. British scholar H.H. Rowley asserts “From beginning to end this volume is a shining example of how the Bible should not be translated.” He goes on to say it is “an insult to the word of God.” Dr. Julius Mantey calls the N.W.T. “a shocking mistranslation.” Bruce Metzger refers to this translation as "a frightful mistranslation,” “erroneous,” “pernicious,” and “reprehensible.” Dr. William Barclay states, “the deliberate distortion of the truth by this sect is seen in their New Testament translation… it is abundantly clear that a sect which can translate the New Testament like this is intellectually dishonest.” I personally looked at over 45 translations (just for the fun of it) and only one agreed with the NWT. It was a translation made by Daniel Mace and found in the Mace New Testament (1729). The Kindle edition is .99 cents…if you’re interested.

1 Tim. 3:16 - “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”

Here is another indisputable text on the Deity of Christ, if one has a real Bible. The issue this time with the text is not the JW’s, although they adapt the reading in their NWT. No, the issue is with those who reject the KJB. The reading of the KJB text comes from 252 copies of Greek manuscripts - that's 252 out of 254! Not one single church father disagrees with the KJB reading. Gregory of Nyssa quotes 1Timothy 3:16 as found in the KJB 22 times before three of the manuscript used for the NASV were written. Ignatius sites the KJB reading 200 years before Vaticanus and Sinaiticus were written.

Php. 2:5-8 - “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

Two important words need to be looked at in this text. One, the word form. Since God is a spirit, he has no form as we would think of. Therefore, form is used in the metaphorical sense, meaning “…that internal constitution which makes an existing thing to be what it is.” Jesus Christ was composed of everything that is God. The second is robbery. Robbery is defined as “…a taking away by violence, wrong or oppression.” Jesus Christ didn’t have to steal the position of equality with the Father since He was of the same composition as the Father. Suffice it to say this verse teaches that Jesus was equal to Jehovah.

Col. 2:9 - “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”

I could give the definition of the Greek word for Godhead, θεá½¹της, and quotes from numerous Greek scholars. However, Webster’s 1913 gives the same definition stating “1. Godship; deity; divinity; divine nature or essence; godhood.; 2. The Deity; God; the Supreme Being.” So Jesus Christ is God in human form, as has been stated previously.

1 Cor. 15:45 - “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.”

The question here is not how many Lords are there in Heaven but who is the Lord from Heaven? The answer to that is obviously Jehovah. Jesus, the God-man, is Jehovah from Heaven.

The above texts are, by no means, exhaustive. They are simple, plain, and obvious scriptures that anyone can read and, with a little thought, can easily see that Jesus Christ is God.