May 15, 2002, Vol.2, No.10.
Two new articles every two weeks.
Bible Question? E-mail
us.
THIS ISSUE: "Is
Jesus God?" (see below)
and "The Danger of Deception"
ANSWERING YOUR QUESTIONS:
Is Jesus God?
by Tom Rainwater
 QUESTION:
Somebody gave me your website. Who are you? What do you have
against the witnesses? The trinity has a pagan origin . Why are
you trying to prove it with the Bible? I will only give you one
scripture -- a scripture everybody knows: John 3:16. It said
God sent his son to die for mankind. Do you need more? It is
very clear. How could God send his son? Can you explain that?
Can God die? Read Psalms 90:1,2.
ANSWER: Hi! Thanks for
checking out our web site.
We're Just Christians
You asked who we are. We are a group of Christians who meet
together regularly to study the Bible and worship God. We have
no central headquarters on earth anywhere, nor do we follow the
creeds and writings of uninspired men. We follow only Jesus Christ
and preach His message of salvation accomplished through His
sacrifice on the cross. We teach only the Bible and study it
as our only spiritual guide.
The Bible Alone Contains
All Truth
"All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for
teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining
in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent,
completely equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy
3:16-17 (NWT)
All Scripture, and it alone, is inspired of God and able to
supply us with all we need to live righteously and please God.
You mentioned "the witnesses." I assume you are
talking about the group calling themselves the "Jehovah's
Witnesses," even though none of them have ever actually
seen Jehovah. I am aware of "Witness doctrine" and
would love to study the Bible with you. We could see if the traditional
"Witness doctrines" are from God in the Bible, or if
they are just from what uninspired men have written in fancy
books. Would you like to do this, friend?
The Father, Son, and the
Holy Spirit
You also mentioned the term "trinity." I just did
a search on our web site (as of today, 5-16-02) and the word
"trinity" is not anywhere on our site (except for this
answer). I personally do not use the term "trinity"
to talk about the nature of God since I can't find that particular
word in the Bible. But the Bible does teach that the Divine Nature
is composed of three separate personalities: the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Here is a sampling of verses. Please look them up and read
them for yourself:
The Father is God. (John 20:17.)
Jesus Christ is God. (Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 9:6; Hebrews
1:8; John 1:1,14; John 20:28.)
The Holy Spirit is God. (Acts 5:3-4.)
If you haven't already, I recommend that you listen to the
radio program, "Is Jesus God?" on our audio
page. On that program we studied what the Bible says about
Jesus Christ. We plan on doing a radio program soon on what the
Scriptures say about the Holy Spirit. Please check back for that
as well.
Regardless of what pagan beliefs may be similar, the truth
about the Godhead is still scriptural. Just because some ancient
pagan doctrine happens to be similar to what God teaches in his
word, does not automatically negate the truth of God's word.
John 3:16 and the Nature
of Jesus
John 3:16 indeed teaches that God sent his Son to die for
mankind. In the New World Translation, it reads:
"For God loved the world so much that he gave his
only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in
him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life." (NWT)
Do you really understand what it means to believe in Him as
the "Son," and call Him "the Son of God"?
Whenever Jesus affirmed his Sonship to the Jews and called Himself
"the Son of God," the Jews understood correctly He
was claiming to be God (John 5:18,22-23). The stubborn Jews did
not want to believe that He was of the same nature as the Father.
Jesus also claimed and exercised the prerogatives of God.
He forgave sin, which only God can do (Matthew 9:2-8; Mark 2:1-12).
He freely accepted man's worship, of which only God is worthy
(Matthew 2:2,11; 8:2; 9:18; 14:33; 15:25; 28:9,17; Mark 5:6;
Luke 24:52; John 9:38). It is wrong to worship mere men (Acts
10:25-26) and even wrong to worship angelic beings (Revelation
22:8-9), but right and mandatory to worship only God (Matthew
4:10).
Jesus came to this earth, giving up His heavenly glory, to
come in human flesh (Philippians 2:6-11; John 17:5; Hebrews 2:14-18).
He did so to be our example, to reveal the truth about Himself,
and to die for our sins. His existence did not begin in Bethlehem.
He has always been and will always be. He is the "I AM"
(John 8:58). He is eternal in nature (Micah 5:2 with Matthew
2:4-6). He has always been God.
If I remember correctly, the "Jehovah's Witnesses"
believe Jesus is actually Michael the archangel. Where's the
scripture for this? Jesus is not an angel, but greater than all
the angels (Hebrews 1:5-14).
Psalm 90:1-2 and the Nature
of God
You mentioned Psalm 90:1-2. It reads in the New World Translation:
"O Jehovah, you yourself have proved to be a real
dwelling for us During generation after generation. Before the
mountains themselves were born, Or you proceeded to bring forth
as with labor pains the earth and the productive land, even from
time indefinite to time indefinite you are God." (NWT)
Can God die in his normal state as He is in Heaven? No, of
course not. But when Jesus voluntarily surrendered His heavenly
glory and came in human flesh, He became subject to temptation
and death. How else could He die for our sins as the perfect
sinless sacrifice?
Though Jesus came to be born in human flesh at Bethlehem,
he is still from "time indefinite." (Micah 5:2, NWT).
Matthew 2:4-6 quotes this Micah passage as referring to Christ.
Conclusion
The truth about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the most
important thing we can understand and believe. It is essential
for our salvation that we believe in Him with all of our hearts
and serve Him as our Lord and God.
He said, "Therefore I said to you, you will die in your
sins. For if you do not believe that I am [he], you will die
in your sins." John 8:24 (NWT).
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