Jesus Is God: An Affirmative Argument

Recently, a person named Tom contacted the preacher through the Eagle Lake church of Christ website. He challenged the Biblical view that Jesus is God. He quoted numerous passages where Jesus indicates His submission to the Father (Jn. 5:37; 8:54; 17:3, etc.), and claimed that those verses prove that Jesus is not God. The preacher asked Tom to answer true or false to some statements. Among those simple statements that demanded a true or false answer were “Only God (divine nature) is eternal (i.e., without beginning and without end, self existent),” which statement, of course, is true, and “Jesus is a created being,” which statement, of course, is false. Tom, however, did not answer true or false, but instead rambled on, quoting numerous verses. The preacher let Tom know that one must do more than quote Scripture—even the devil can do that (Mt. 4:6)! “Rightly dividing the word of truth” is what we need to do (2 Tim. 2:15).

The Argument Set Forth

After exchanging several emails in which Tom refused to answer simple true or false statements, the preacher emailed Tom the following argument:

1. All things the Bible teaches as true are things that are true.

2. “Jesus is God” is something the Bible teaches as true.

3. Therefore, “Jesus is God” is true.

In logic, this is called a valid argument. That is, if premises 1 and 2 are true, then the conclusion must follow. Without even addressing one point in the argument, Tom emailed the preacher, “I tried to help you, but I give up!” It is amazing how militant one can be when making assertions, but when it comes to proving such assertions one so easily gives up!

The Argument Proven

Although Tom refused to deal with the argument, it will do us well to see its validity and proof that Jesus is God. There are other religious groups, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who deny that Jesus is God, using the same flawed “reasoning” as Tom. Since these groups often come knocking on our doors, we ought to know how to answer them (Phil. 1:17; 1 Pet. 3:15).

The first premise “All things the Bible teaches as true are things that are true” is so obviously recognized as true among us that we need not consider it further. However, it can be proven if others doubt its truthfulness.

The second premise, “‘Jesus is God’ is something the Bible teaches as true,” is where the disagreement occurs. However, the following passages clearly declare such to be true. First, consider John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Note first the verb tense of “was.” In Greek this is called the imperfect tense and denotes continuous action in the past. The “past” to which the continuousness of the verb relates is “the beginning.” In other words, before the beginning, the Word continuously existed! Such continuousness before anything was created is a characteristic only of Deity (cf. Gen. 21:33; Ps. 90:2-4; 102:27; Isa. 57:15; 1 Tim. 6:16). Sometimes people try to avoid the force of this by saying that “the beginning” refers to the creation of this world and that there were other things created before the creation of this world such as angels, spiritual forces, and some would even say Jesus was created before the creation of this world. However, there is nothing in this context or the rest of the Bible that indicates any other beginning than “the beginning.” If “the beginning” does not mean “the beginning,” then what inspired source tells us so?

Also, note the last clause of the verse, “and the Word was God.” The original language is clear and powerful. Jesus is of the same nature as God! Many will try to avoid the force of this by saying that the Greek does not contain the definite article (“the”); therefore, it means “a god,” or something like a “Secondary God.” However, such a claim is evidence that one does not know the original language. Without getting into the technicalities of the original language, one need only turn to John 1:6, “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.” The word “God” in this verse does not have the definite article (“the”) before it in Greek, yet even the New Word Translation (of the Jehovah’s Witnesses) translates it “God”!

Second, consider Philippians 2:6. Paul says of Christ, “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” “Being” is from a Greek word (huparcho) that usually means, “be” in the sense of to “be from the beginning.” When dealing with God, who is eternal, however, there is no beginning. Therefore, with reference to God the word means, “being from all eternity.” In whatever “form” God was from all eternity, so was the Christ until He voluntarily came to this earth and took upon Him human nature (Phil. 2:7-8). Philippians 2:6 also says that Christ was “equal with God.” “Equal” is from a Greek word (isos) that means “equal” (cf. an isosceles triangle, which has two equal sides). Also, in Philippians 2:9, Paul says that “God…[has] given him a name which is above every name.” Literally, the Greek text says that God gave Him “the name.” There is only one “the name” with which Paul’s readers would be familiar—Jehovah of the Old Testament! The entire context of Philippians 2:6-11 emphatically teaches that Jesus is God, who “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:7).

Remember that in a valid argument, if both premises are true, the conclusion must be true. Since we know that premise 1 is true and premise 2 is true, we know that the conclusion “Jesus is God” is true!

-- Brian Kenyon