| Assertion 1: |
| Jesus Accepted Worship Jesus Himself told Satan that no one should be worshipped and served except God (Matthew 4:10 and Luke 4:8 . Yet… Jesus accepted worship. |
MY REPLY:
Jesus was and is 'worshipped' because he is the Lord Messiah, the Son of
the Living GOD. The scriptures distinctly depict two types of appropriate
worship
1) The worship which belongs to GOD Almighty alone
2) And the
worship which is given to kings, prophets and dignitaries.
For example, (1
Chr 29:20) And David said to all the congregation, Now bless YAHWEH your God.
And all the congregation blessed YAHWEH God of their fathers, and bowed down
their heads, and worshipped YAHWEH, and the king.
The
Bible's words for worship, are the Hebrew word Shachah and the Greek word
Proskuneo.
They are consistently used in regards to both GOD and men.
I have already
gone into greater detail, therefore I refer you to:
The
Worship of Christ
Assertion
2:
Jesus Demonstrated That He was God
Jesus had
authority over demons and Jesus said His miracles spoke for him (John
10:25). The Old Testament prophesied of Jesus. Jesus also said that no one
came to the Father except through Him (John 14:6; 6:45; 8:24) ... Jesus
made Himself equal with God
MY REPLY:
Both the
authority that Jesus exhibited and the miracles proved the point that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, GOD's agent, GOD's
representative, GOD's Anointed One, GOD's Sent One. Therefore, Jesus
solely claimed to be the Messiah. He never ever made himself equal to Almighty
GOD. All the examples that you used can be explained in that light.
Jesus is GOD's ultimate plenipotentiary and
representative.
| Assertion 3: |
| Jesus said for us to "believe also in Me." In John 14:1b. Do you believe in Jesus? |
MY REPLY:
Seeing that Jesus is
'THAT PROPHET' spoken of by Moses who was to be 'like unto Moses' [Deut
18:15,18-19],
I personally, do indeed believe in him.
Compare ...
- (John 14:1) Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
- (Exo 14:31) And Israel saw that great work which YAHWEH did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared YAHWEH, and believed YAHWEH, and his servant Moses.
- (1 Sam 12:18 ) So Samuel called unto YAHWEH; and YAHWEH sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared YAHWEH and Samuel.
| Assertion 4: |
| Jesus Forgave Sins Against God Only God can forgive sins, and Jesus forgave sins against God, then Jesus was showing that He was God. |
MY REPLY:
If that indeed
proved that Jesus was Almighty GOD, then all the apostles are GOD also!
What do I mean?
The same authority wherewith Jesus forgave sins was given to
his apostles.
(John 20:20-23) And when he had so said, he showed unto them
his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. 21
Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive
ye the Holy Ghost: 23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain,
they are retained.
The words 'forgiven/forgive' in Matt chap. 9
and the words 'remit/remitted' in John chap. 20 are the same Greek word aphiemi ...
John 20:23 could easily read
... Whose soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them; ...
The apostles were to forgive/remit sins even as Jesus
their Master had done so!!
Yet they are not GOD are they???
Let's look again at this event ...
[Please
note: The word used for 'power' is the Greek word exousia which means AUTHORITY!]
| Quote: |
| (Mat 9:4-8 ) And Jesus knowing their thoughts said,
Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? 5 For whether is easier, to say,
Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? 6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath
power/AUTHORITY on earth to forgive
sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy
bed, and go unto thine house. 7 And he arose, and departed to his house. 8
But when the multitude saw it, they
marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power/AUTHORITY unto men. (Mark 2:12) And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. (Luke 5:25-26) And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. 26 And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day. |
Get it! The man's sins were forgiven
via the authority that Almighty GOD had given to Jesus, the Son of man
... in light of this, the witnesses of this great event glorified GOD who gave such authority to
men.
Thank GOD for common
people! [Mark 12:37] Who are not bound up by Greek Hellenistic philosophy and
church councils' teachings ... common people ... who could clearly see that
this man before them, the man Jesus of Nazareth
[Acts 2:22] was not GOD Almighty but rather GOD's authorized, appointed agent
... a man authorized and appointed to forgive sins on behalf of GOD Himself ...
a man who did all things by the power of GOD, because it was GOD the Father who
did the works!
Whose report will we believe? Those who
believed on him [Matt 9:8, Acts 2:22]
or the so-called church fathers who
taught that Jesus is Almighty GOD?
The choice is ours!!
| Assertion 5: |
| Jesus did one of two things: a) Showed He was God by proving He had the power, b) Deliberately misled them to believe that He was God when He was not. |
MY REPLY:
Jesus did NEITHER.
What he did or rather what GOD did through him,
was to show that His Son was authorized and appointed by Him to forgive sins and heal in His name.
As Jesus himself said ....
- (John 5:19) Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
- (John 8:28 ) Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.
- (John 14:10-11) Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.
Jesus had NO POWER OF HIMSELF. GOD worked through Jesus. GOD the Father did
all the works. Jesus DID NOTHING OF HIMSELF.
GOD via the works showed that
Jesus was the Messiah and His Son.
Jesus
misled no one. He taught those who had an ear to hear, that he was indeed, the
Messiah, the Son of the Living GOD, and as such, they were to put their trust in
him, because everything he said and did, was OF GOD ALMIGHTY, his Father and not
of himself!
| Quote: |
| (John 12:48-50) He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. 49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. |
| Assertion 6: |
| However, note that Jesus said "But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins". So Jesus said it was He who had the power, and he was not just announcing that the Father forgave. |
MY REPLY:
Jesus 'HAD'
authority/power to forgive sins because it was GIVEN him from Almighty GOD.
[Please note: The word used for 'power' is the
Greek word exousia which means
AUTHORITY!]
| Quote: |
| (Mat 9:4-8 ) And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? 5 For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? 6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power/AUTHORITY on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. 7 And he arose, and departed to his house. 8 But when the multitude saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power/AUTHORITY unto men. |
| Assertion 7: |
| The Rest of the New Testament The gospels and the rest of the New Testament shows that Jesus' followers were taught that Jesus was God. a) Jesus and the Father have the same nature (Philippians 2:5) b) Both are rightfully worshipped (Hebrews 1:6) c) Both rightfully called God (John 1:1; Heb 1:8,9) d) Both are prayed to (Acts 7:7:59-60) e) Everything in the world was created through Christ (John 1:3, 10, Colossians 1:16) f) Everything is sustained through Christ (Col 1:17) g) The fullness of deity is in Jesus (Colossians 1:19). h) Jesus is called God in 2 Cor. 11:3 and Titus 2:13 i) Worshipped in Heaven in Revelation 5:8-9; 22:20 j) Prayed to Christ Acts 7:59 |
MY REPLY:
Rather, the
gospels and the rest of the New Testament shows that Jesus' followers were
taught ...
that Jesus was indeed the
Messiah, the Son of the Living GOD, GOD's appointed agent and
plenipotentiary
- The Greek text of Philippians 2:6 is more correctly rendered that Jesus did not grasp after equality with
GOD
Unlike Adam [Gen 3:5]. Where Adam failed, Jesus succeeded. Where Adam sought to exalt himself, Jesus humbled himself.
As followers of Christ, we ought to have the same mind.
The expression 'form of GOD' is equivalent to 'image of GOD' [Gen 1:27]; i.e. Jesus the second man, the second Adam, being a man, he was indeed the ultimate 'image of GOD', the ultimate 'man'; he was the image that GOD had intended all men to be ... Jesus proved this by being in total submission to Almighty GOD, hence all his followers now need to be conformed to Jesus' image. [Rom 8:29]
- Both are rightfully worshipped (Hebrews 1:6)
Yes. GOD as GOD ALMIGHTY! Jesus as the King Messiah, the man whom Almighty GOD made both Christ and Lord of all; even angels therefore, have been made subject to him. [Acts 2:36, 10:36; 1 Pet 3:22, 1 Cor 15:27-28; Heb 2:5-9]
- John 1:1 is speaking about the word of God
Moses is also called 'God/elohim'. [Exo 7:1] So were the OT judges [Exo 21:6, 22:8-9] So your point is?
- Stephen is speaking to Jesus who he sees.
Stephen is not praying to him. He is invoking and calling upon Jesus whilst beholding him. There is a difference!.
Solely GOD the Father is prayed to throughout the scriptures, both OT & NT.
- Everything in the world was created by GOD Almighty.
The new creation, the new heavens and earth are created by GOD through Christ.
John 1:3 is about GOD's spoken word (cp. Psalms 33:6,9)
John 1:10 is talking about Jesus, the Son of the Creator.
The Scriptures recognized solely ONE Creator ... this ONE Creator is YAHWEH, the GOD of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob;
the GOD & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. [Mal 2:10]; YAHWEH created all things alone! [Isa 44:24]
What the biased KJV translators did was to translate the Greek word ’dia’ as ‘by’ in v.10. They did the same thing in Col 1:16, Eph 3:9, and Heb 1:2; hence to foist their doctrine/leaven that a ‘God the Son’ made all things. However this is not what the Scriptures teach.
The Greek word ’dia’ around 88 times is translated ‘through’.
Hence, John 1:10 need not to be translated ‘by’ but rather THROUGH! Therefore, GOD Almighty, the Father, made all things with His Son in mind ... with His Son in view. (In like manner, Col 1.16 is about the new creation to come. GOD also is creating this new creation with His Son in view!)
So, concerning John 1.10 ... Hence the Son was in the world, and the world was made actually by GOD the Father THROUGH the Son [i.e. in view of the Son], and the world knew the Son not.
This verse is definitely NOT saying that Jesus the Messiah made all things!
The Scriptures teach no such thing. Both Christ [Mark 10:6, 13:19] and the apostles [Acts 4:24, 14:15, 17:24 cp. Matt 11:25, Luke 10:24] taught that GOD, the Father, namely YAHWEH; is the sole Creator of all things. In fact, in NO Jewish writings (I am open to be corrected) will you find any concept that the Messiah is the Creator or Maker of all things. In fact, let me quote from the Talmud that also gives the gist of what I am saying ...Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 98b wrote: ”The World was not Created but only for the Messiah” - Everything is sustained through Christ (Col 1:17)
Yep! That is his appointed position by Almighty GOD. However, it is GOD who sustains all things through Christ.
- Yep! GOD's fullness dwells in the man Christ Jesus.
He may be 'full of GOD' however he is not GOD. Rather, Jesus is GOD's human temple.
Also, Paul prayed that ... (Eph 3:19) And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
- Jesus is called God in 2 Cor. 11:3 and Titus 2:13
He is???
(2 Cor 11:3) But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
Bit puzzled by this one.
However, the Greek text of Titus 2:13 reads rather:
(Titus 2:13) Looking for that blessed hope, and the appearing of the glory of the great God AND our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Compare (Mat 16:27) For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
(Luke 9:26) For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.
See also Mark 8:38
- Revelation 5:8-9 ... Yep! Christ is due worship and honor as the Lamb of
Almighty GOD.
(Rev 5:9) And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
- Check any bible. The word 'God' in Acts
7:59 is in italics i.e. it is NOT in the Greek
text
Acts 7:59 actually reads ... And they stoned Stephen, calling upon and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
