There seem to be a large number of “Christians” today who do not believe that Jesus is God: ‘About a third of evangelicals say Jesus was a “good teacher” but was not God, according to a LifeWay Research study created for Ligonier Ministries. Also, 65 percent of evangelicals believe “Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God” a statement that goes against the Bible’s teachings.’
https://www.beliefnet.com/columnist...evangelicals-say-jesus-was-not-god-poll-shows
Also, there are at least nine “faith groups” which reject the doctrine of the Holy Trinity as held by Bible-believing Chiristians. They include Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Scientists, Christadelphians, Oneness Pentecostals, Unification Church, Unity School of Christianity, Armstrongists, and Scientologists.
So the question remains “Must one believe that Jesus is God in order to be saved?” And the answer from Scripture is a resounding “Yes”.
This passage from Isaiah 45:21-23 makes it perfectly clear that it is applicable to both God and Christ: Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
We see here that our Saviour is God, and we find in the New Testament that Jesus is called “the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).
Did Jesus insist that believing in Him as God was necessary in order to be saved? Yes, He did. In John chapter 8 there is a lengthy discourse between Christ and His enemies. Jesus declared to the scribes and Pharisees that He was the Light of the world. Then He went on to say in verse 24: I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I AM [he], ye shall die in your sins.
The King James translators failed to translate this verse correctly. “I AM” is the name of God (Exodus 3:14) and it is capitalized in the OT. That is how it should have been translated in the New Testament and there are several times when this was not done. Also there is no “he” in that verse, and that is why it is in italics. Here is how the Greek in written in the Received Text: εἶπον οὖν ὑμῖν ὅτι ἀποθανεῖσθε ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν· ἐὰν γὰρ μὴ πιστεύσητε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι ἀποθανεῖσθε ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν, and it literally reads as “I said therefore to you that you will die in the sins of you. If for not you believe that I AM, you will die in the sins of you”.
We find in Exodus 3, that Jesus is called (1) the Angel of the Lord (in His pre-incarnate form), (2) the LORD (YHWH=Yahweh), (3) God, (4) the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, (5) IAM THAT I AM, and (6) I AM. Jesus chose to call Himself “I AM” therefore He also said to the Jews “Before Abraham was I AM” (John 8:58). Unless it meant exactly what it meant in Exodus, that statement would not make grammatical sense.
This goes back to the fact that (a) Jesus is “God manifest in the flesh” (1 Tim 3:16) and (b) Jesus is “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). There could be only one sinless Substite for the sins of the whole world, and that is God as sinless Man dying on the cross of Calvary, and being made “Sin” for us. The very fact that our Saviour was named “Yehoshua” or “Yeshua” or “Yahshua” (which is “Iesous” in Greek and “Jesus” in English) proves that Jesus is God. His name means “God is our Salvation”.
So why is it that in spite of all these Scripture, people reject the deity of Christ and therefore face eternal damnation? There can only be one reason. Satan blinds the minds of people to prevent them from believing the truth, and then deceives them into believing a lie. His ultimate goal is to see the entire human race in Hell. But the light of the Gospel is given so that people will come to the Light of the world -- Jesus. Therefore God will bring many to salvation.
https://www.beliefnet.com/columnist...evangelicals-say-jesus-was-not-god-poll-shows
Also, there are at least nine “faith groups” which reject the doctrine of the Holy Trinity as held by Bible-believing Chiristians. They include Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Scientists, Christadelphians, Oneness Pentecostals, Unification Church, Unity School of Christianity, Armstrongists, and Scientologists.
So the question remains “Must one believe that Jesus is God in order to be saved?” And the answer from Scripture is a resounding “Yes”.
This passage from Isaiah 45:21-23 makes it perfectly clear that it is applicable to both God and Christ: Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
We see here that our Saviour is God, and we find in the New Testament that Jesus is called “the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).
Did Jesus insist that believing in Him as God was necessary in order to be saved? Yes, He did. In John chapter 8 there is a lengthy discourse between Christ and His enemies. Jesus declared to the scribes and Pharisees that He was the Light of the world. Then He went on to say in verse 24: I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I AM [he], ye shall die in your sins.
The King James translators failed to translate this verse correctly. “I AM” is the name of God (Exodus 3:14) and it is capitalized in the OT. That is how it should have been translated in the New Testament and there are several times when this was not done. Also there is no “he” in that verse, and that is why it is in italics. Here is how the Greek in written in the Received Text: εἶπον οὖν ὑμῖν ὅτι ἀποθανεῖσθε ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν· ἐὰν γὰρ μὴ πιστεύσητε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι ἀποθανεῖσθε ἐν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν, and it literally reads as “I said therefore to you that you will die in the sins of you. If for not you believe that I AM, you will die in the sins of you”.
We find in Exodus 3, that Jesus is called (1) the Angel of the Lord (in His pre-incarnate form), (2) the LORD (YHWH=Yahweh), (3) God, (4) the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, (5) IAM THAT I AM, and (6) I AM. Jesus chose to call Himself “I AM” therefore He also said to the Jews “Before Abraham was I AM” (John 8:58). Unless it meant exactly what it meant in Exodus, that statement would not make grammatical sense.
This goes back to the fact that (a) Jesus is “God manifest in the flesh” (1 Tim 3:16) and (b) Jesus is “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). There could be only one sinless Substite for the sins of the whole world, and that is God as sinless Man dying on the cross of Calvary, and being made “Sin” for us. The very fact that our Saviour was named “Yehoshua” or “Yeshua” or “Yahshua” (which is “Iesous” in Greek and “Jesus” in English) proves that Jesus is God. His name means “God is our Salvation”.
So why is it that in spite of all these Scripture, people reject the deity of Christ and therefore face eternal damnation? There can only be one reason. Satan blinds the minds of people to prevent them from believing the truth, and then deceives them into believing a lie. His ultimate goal is to see the entire human race in Hell. But the light of the Gospel is given so that people will come to the Light of the world -- Jesus. Therefore God will bring many to salvation.
- 6
- 4
- 1
- Show all