Argument #4

“Jesus is a lesser God than the Father.”

 Explanation: Jesus is co-equal with God the Father. People who deny this truth may use the following arguments and verses. (These heresies date back to Arius, 319ad.)

Verses wrongly used to teach that Christ was created

Colossians 1:15: If Christ is “the first born of all creation,” was he created?

Answer: “Firstborn ” cannot mean that Christ was created, because Paul says that all of creation was made in and for Christ, and that he exists before all creation and holds it together (Col. 1:16–17). The “firstborn” traditionally was the main heir. In context Paul is saying that Christ, as God’s Son, is the main heir of all creation (verses 12–14).

John 3:16: Does “only begotten Son” mean Jesus had a beginning?

Answer: “Only-begotten” does not mean that Jesus had

a beginning; it does not mean He was born; it means that Jesus is God’s “unique” or “only” Son. There is only physical manifestation of God, and that is Jesus Christ.  In Hebrews 11:17, Isaac is called Abraham ’s “unique” son, even though Abraham had other children (Gen. 22:2; 25:1–6). Jesus is God’s unique Son because only Jesus is fully God and eternally the Father’s Son (John 1:1–3, 14–18).

Proverbs 8:22: Does this mean that Christ (“Wisdom”) was “created ”?

Answer: This does not say Christ was created; it is a personification of wisdom. InProverbs 8:23 (KJV) it says, “I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.”  Jesus was “brought forth” (Proverbs 8:24), not created.  He was there before the creation of the universe.  To be brought form from the beginning means to be made manifest.  That is another way of saying that the energy of God (spiritual) became flesh (physical).  It is simply God changing from one form into another.  In order to bring about the physical universe God became physical Himself. 

Verses wrongly used to teach that Jesus is inferior to the Father

John 14:28: If “the Father is greater than” Jesus, how can Jesus be God?

Answer: In his human life on earth Jesus voluntarily shared our natural limitations in order to save us. After he rose from the dead, Jesus returned to the glory he had with the Father (John 17:5; Phil. 2:9–11). In that restored glory, Jesus was able to send the Holy Spirit and empower his disciples to do even greater works than Jesus did while he was here in the flesh (John 14:12, 26–28).

1 Corinthians 15:28: If Jesus is God, why will he be subject to the Father?

Answer: Jesus humbly and voluntarily submits himself to the Father’s will for a time (Phil. 2:5–11). But, as the pre-existent and eternal Son, he is co-equal with God the Father.

Mark 13:32: If Jesus is God, how could he not know when he would return?

Answer: Jesus voluntarily lowered himself to experience

the limitations of human life. Paradoxically, while Jesus continued to be God, he chose to limit his access to knowledge (John 16:30). Paradoxes like this (not contradictions) are exactly what we would expect if, as the Bible says, God chose to live as a real human being (John 1:1, 14).

Irenaeus, early church leader (177ad), writes, “Now the Church,…received from the apostles and their disciples its faith in one God, and the father Almighty, who made the heaven, and the earth, and the seas, and all that is in them, and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who was made flesh for our salvation, and in the Holy Spirit, who through the prophets proclaimed the dispensations of God…”

Argument #5

“The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are just different titles for Jesus, or three different ways that God has revealed himself.”

Explanation: The Bible clearly shows that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct persons.

Some people think that the doctrine of the Trinity contradicts the truth that there is only one God. They argue that Jesus alone is the one true God, and therefore that Jesus is “the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19), and not just the name of the Son. While it is certainly true that there is only one God, we must allow the Bible to define what this means. And the Bible makes it quite clear that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct persons:

• The Father sends the Son (Gal. 4:4; 1 John 4:14)
• The Father sends the Spirit (John 14:26; Gal. 4:6)
• The Son speaks, not on his own, but on behalf of the Father (John 8:28; 12:49)
• The Spirit speaks, not on his own, but on behalf of Jesus (John 16:13–15)
• The Father loves the Son, and the Son loves the Father (John 3:35; 5:20; 14:31)
• The Father and the Son count as two witnesses (John 5:31–37; 8:16–18)
• The Father and the Son glorify one another (John 17:1,4–5), and the Spirit glorifies Jesus the Son (John 16:14)
• The Son is an Advocate for us with the Father (1 John 2:1; Greek, parakletos); Jesus the Son sent the Holy Spirit, who is another Advocate (John 14:16, 26)
• Jesus Christ is not the Father, but the Son of the Father (2 John 3)

In Matthew 28:19, Jesus is not identifying himself as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is saying that Christian baptism identifies a person as one who believes in the Father, in the Son whom the Father sent to die for our sins, and in the Holy Spirit whom the Father and the Son sent to dwell in our hearts.

Argument #6

“Jesus wasn’t really fully God and fully man.”

 Explanation. Throughout history many people have balked at the idea that Jesus is both fully God and fully man. They have tried to resolve this paradox by saying that Jesus was a mere man through whom God spoke, or that he was God and merely appeared to be human, or some other “simpler” belief. Admittedly the idea that in Jesus, God became a man, is difficult for us to comprehend. But the Incarnation —the truth that God became flesh—is the ultimate proof that nothing is too hard for God (Gen. 18:14; Luke 1:37). And this truth is clearly taught in the Bible.

The Bible clearly shows that Jesus was fully human

As a child, he grew physically, intellectually, socially, and spiritually (Luke 2:40, 52).

He grew tired; he slept; he sweat; he was hungry and thirsty; he bled and died; his body was buried (Matt. 4:2; 8:24; Luke 22:44; John 4:6–7; 19:28–42).

After he rose from the dead, he ate and drank with people and let them see his scars and touch his body (Luke 24:39–43; John 20:27 –29; Acts 10:41).

The Bible also clearly shows that Jesus was fully God

Jesus did on earth what only God can do: he commanded the forces of nature (Matt. 8:23–27; 14:22–33), forgave sins (Mark 2:1–12); claimed to be superior to the Sabbath law (John 5:17–18); and gave life to whomever he pleased (John 5:19-23).

Paul said that God purchased the church with his own blood (Acts 20:28).

Paul also said that the rulers of this world unwittingly crucified the Lord of glory (1 Cor. 2:8).

All the fullness of God’s nature and being resides in Jesus’ risen body (Col. 2:9).

If Jesus was just a man then he was either lunatic or a liar.  Based on what Jesus said in John 10:30 (KJV), “I and my Father are one.” And later in John 10:38, “…that the Father is in me, and I in him.  Also in John 8:58 (KJV), “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” 

The Logic Test

If you believe Jesus was just a good man, maybe even a prophet of God, but not God, then you have to contend with the following statements.  Since Jesus claimed to be God, He is either the Son of God or He is a lunatic or He is a liar.  He is nothing in between.