Sovereign Grace Baptist Church Meets weekly at 907 Hillsboro Boulevard, Manchester, TN, 37355. Currently, our church is without a pastor/elder and the members meet weekly for praise and worship in hymn, prayer, reading of Scripture, study of the word, and fellowship.
That Jesus is fully God is derived from several lines of evidence: 1) The OT attributes and predictions concerning the Messiah. 2) Jesus’ direct testimony concerning Himself in Word & Deed. 3) His Resurrection (note 2). 4) The NT’s united testimony. 5) The nine references of the term “God” (theos) used of Jesus.
1) OT Witness. First, The figure referred to as “The Angel of the Lord” appears to be divine in some instances (See Gen. 31:1-13; Joshua 5:13-15, here called “Commander of the army of the LORD;” Judges 13:1-24; and Zechariah 3:1-10). Second, the coming King will be in some unique sense God’s Son (See Psalm 2; Isaiah 9:6; Proverbs 30:4). Third, The Messiah to come is referred to as God (See Isaiah 7:14, cf. Matt. 1:23; Isaiah 9:6; Psalm 45:6-7). In a strong passage the OT identifies the Messiah as one who will have the name YHWH (See Psalm 102:25-27; Also cf. Isaiah 6 with John 12:41). In similar vein, the OT states Messiah will be “YHWH sebaot” [LORD of Hosts] emphasizing His monarchy as the Divine King (See Malachi 3:1).
2) Jesus’ Self-designation. First, The names/titles associated with Jesus: Son of Man, Son of God, Lord, and Master. Second, The actions of Jesus: Forgiving sins (Mark 2:5), Receives worship (See Matt 21:16; John 10:38, 20:28; and rev 1:17). Third, Jesus receives prayers and promises to answer prayers (See John 14:13; Acts 1:24, 7:59; 2 Cor. 12:8; and 1 Thess. 3:11). Fourth, Jesus is or should be the object of people’s faith (See Matt 9:28; John 6:47, 14:1). Also His healings, miracles and exorcisms, and His transfiguration further underscore His divine status (See Matt 16:28-17:21; Mark 4:35-5:43).
3) The Resurrection (See Footnote # 2).
4) The Theology of Jesus’ Followers. Paul’s Christology includes prayer to Christ (See 2 Cor 12:8-9), calling upon the Name of Christ (See Rom 10:9-10; 1 Cor. 1:2); uniting the Name of Christ with God the father as source of Divine blessings (See “Intro” to all his letters); Applied the title, “Lord,” kurios to Jesus. This is the term that the translators of the Septuagint used to translate the word “LORD,” (YHWH). This is a clear affirmation that for Paul, Jesus stands on the divine side of the Creator creature distinction. He is God. In clearer still tones, Paul ascribes the word “God” to Jesus. We must remember that Paul was a first century Jew. This is tantamount to blasphemy, unless Jesus really is God (See Romans 1:3-4, cf. 9:5; Titus 2:13; Colossians 1:15-20, cf. 2:9; Philippians 2:5-11; and 1 Timothy 1:15, 3:16).
5) Jesus as theos, “God.” In addition to Paul, other writers also attribute deity to Jesus by various ways. The clearest is where they too ascribe the term “God” to Jesus. (See Act 20:28; 2 Peter 1:1; Hebrews 1:8; John 1:1-14, 18; and 1 John 5:20).
Theodore Zachariades
Notes:
1. This piece is indebted to Robert L. Reymond, A New Systematic Theology of The Christian Faith, 2d ed. Revised & Updated (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998), 211 ff. This is one of the better approaches to the Trinity and Christology, in my opinion. The psitions adopted are my own, however.
2. I am perhaps a lone voice among preachers/teachers within the evangelical landscape that takes a very nuanced approach to the relation of Christ’s deity to the resurrection. Most evangelicals see that Jesus’ resurrection simpliciter is proof of the deity of Jesus. I do not believe that this is warranted in and of itself. I do, however, believe that because some of the evidence concerning Christ’s resurrection states that the “Son Arose,” that is, that Jesus was an agent in his own resurrection. Though this does not preclude the truth that the Father raised the Son, it does show that for all divine works it is the common Trinity that acts. It is the role of Christ as "agent" in His own resurrection that warrants His deity, not the simple fact that he was raised.
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