Paul and the Pastoral Letters – Did Paul think Jesus is God? by Bethany Reise

Paul and the Pastoral Letters – Did Paul think Jesus is God?

What did Paul have to say about God and Jesus in his pastoral letters to Timothy and Titus?
Did Paul believe that Jesus was God?

1. Paul believed and taught that God was the Father.

1 Timothy 1:2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
2 Timothy 1:2 To Timothy, my beloved son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

2. Paul believed and taught that there was a distinction between God and Jesus.
This clearly implies that God is separate from Jesus. Jesus is not God.

1 Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope,
1 Timothy 1:2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 Timothy 2:3-5 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
2 Timothy 1:1-2 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my beloved son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Titus 1:4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

3. Paul believed and taught that it was possibly to be in the presence of both God and Christ. Once again, Paul makes a distinction between God and Jesus. If Jesus were God, these statements would not make sense. It would also be redundant.

1 Timothy 5:21 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality.
2 Timothy 4:1-2 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.
1 Timothy 6:13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate,

4. Paul believed that Jesus was a man, the human mediator between mankind and God.

1 Timothy 2:3-5 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

5. Paul believed that it was God who gave life to all things.

1 Timothy 6:13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate,

6. Paul believed that the Only God and Only Sovereign was immortal and invisible. He also makes a distinction between Jesus and the only Sovereign. Furthermore, Jesus was neither immortal nor invisible. He died and many people saw him, during his life and after his resurrection.

1 Timothy 1:17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
1 Timothy 6:13-16 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

7. Paul believed that Jesus was the agent through which God saved mankind.
Here’s where it might be a bit tricky, (if you aren’t familiar with the concept of agency), since Paul referred to both God and Jesus as our Savior. So stay with me.

1 Timothy 4:10 For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.
Titus 1:1-4 Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior, To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Now be careful when you read this next verse. Many Bibles have a comma after “our great God and Savior,” implying that Christ Jesus is our great God and Savior. However, commas aren’t inspired. They were added afterward in translation and copying, because the original manuscripts had no punctuation!

Titus 2:11-14 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

In this next verse, Paul helps us understand how he can say that God is the Savior of all men, and yet call Christ Jesus our Savior.

Titus 3:4-6 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

Here we see that God is the one orchestrating salvation through Christ. God is the ultimate Savior, acting through Christ Jesus as his agent of salvation. God’s arm, his right hand man, is carrying out his salvation.


To summarize and condense:
Paul believed that God and Jesus were not one in the same, since he introduced them as separate persons in his greetings and also said it was possible to be in the presence of God and Christ.
Paul believed that the Father was the only God and Sovereign, the one who alone possesses immortality.
Paul believed that Jesus the Messiah was a man, not God, the mediator between mankind and God.
Paul believed that God carried out his plan of salvation through Christ Jesus, making God our Savior through Christ Jesus.


To further support the claim that Jesus is not God and is not the Father, consider the logic of the following:
Paul taught that the only God was both immortal and invisible (Jesus was neither).

1 Timothy 1:17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Armed with this information, we can make connection to Paul’s statement further along in his letter to Timothy.

1 Timothy 6:13-16 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time—
He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see.
To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

What do we see here? Well first, we see a distinction between God and Jesus. We also see that God, who gives life to all things and alone is Sovereign, immortal, and unseen by mankind, is the one who will bring about the return of Jesus!
Wow! Remind you of anything from the gospels?
How about Jesus statement in Mark 13 where he is talking about his return?

Mark 13:31 -32 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

The Father is the only one who knows the day or the hour of the Son’s return!
Paul says that the only God and Sovereign, who is invisible and immortal, will bring about the return of Christ Jesus! Jesus himself identifies this figure as the Father!

The above article was taken from:

the Kingdom Ready Blog

{My addendum:
AMEN!! Please note: Also the resurrected man Christ Jesus now possesses immortality as a gift from GOD His Father; Christ will die no more! [Rom. 6.9-10] This same gift will be given to all believers on the last day, when Christ raises the righteous dead. They too will be given immortality.
[Rom. 2.7, 1 Cor. 15.53-54; 2 Tim. 1.10] }