The Deity of Jesus Christ

THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST – A point-by-point response to the most common arguments Jehovah’s Witnesses pose against the Deity of Jesus Christ

 SUMMARY OF CONTENTS:

1. DEFINING THE “TRINITY”
2. IS THE “TRINITY” DOCTRINE FROM PAGANISM?
3. THE ANTE-NICENE FATHERS AND THE TRINITY DOCTRINE
4. THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST: “Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man.”
5. THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST: “The Son is of the Father alone: not made, nor created, but begotten.”
6. THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST: “Equal to the Father, as touching his Godhead: and inferior to the Father, as touching his Manhood.”
7. JESUS RECEIVES WORSHIP ALONG WITH THE FATHER
8. JESUS PLACES HIS NAME ON GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT
9. JESUS POSSESSES THE AUTHORITY TO FORGIVE SINS
10. JESUS POSSESSES THE AUTHORITY TO GIVE ETERNAL LIFE
11. JESUS IS THE GREAT GOD AND SAVIOR
12. JESUS IS THE ALMIGHTY JEHOVAH
 

1. DEFINING THE “TRINITY”:

“Neither confounding the Persons; nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost … So the Father is God, the Son is God: and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not three Gods: but one God … The Son is of the Father alone: not made, nor created, but begotten … For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess: that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man … Equal to the Father, as touching his Godhead: and inferior to the Father, as touching his Manhood.” (Creed of Athanasius)

• Not MODALISM: three modes or manifestations of one person
• Not TRITHEISM: three separate “Gods” in one Godhead unity
• It is three distinct persons in one God.

4 Pillars of the Trinity Doctrine:

• Father is called God at 1 Peter 1:2
• Son is called God at John 20:28
• Holy Spirit is called God at Acts 5:3-4
• There is only one true God — John 17:3

2. IS THE “TRINITY” DOCTRINE FROM PAGANISM?

While the Watchtower endeavors to imply that Will Durant supports their position concerning the adoption of pagan concepts into Christianity, they fail to not the complete context from which their quote of him was taken. In the context, Will Durant actually taught:

“It seems incredible that the Apocalypse and the Fourth Gospel should have come from the same hand. The Apocalypse is Jewish poetry, the Fourth Gospel is Greek philosophy … Just as Philo, learned in Greek speculation, had felt a need to rephrase Judaism in forms acceptable to the logic-loving Greeks, so John … sought to give a Greek philosophical tinge to the mystic Jewish doctrine that the Wisdom of God was a living being, and to the Christian doctrine that Jesus was the Messiah. Consciously or not, he continued Paul’s work of detaching Christianity from Judaism … Now the pagan world — even the anti-Semitic world — could accept him as its own. Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it.” (The Story of Civilization: Part III, Caesar and Christ, pp. 594-595)

ASK THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESS:

• Do you believe that the writers of Scripture, such as John and Paul, incorporated “Greek philosophy” into their writings because they used terms and ideas that were identical to those found in pagan false religion? Do you agree with this historian that the Watchtower quotes? Do you believe that the Bible is the source of paganism in Christianity and that Christianity “adopted” paganism because the Bible is from paganism?
• If not, then why does the Society base its position regarding the alleged “pagan” origin of the Trinity from the assertions of a man who believed that the Bible was the source of paganism in Christianity?

The Society quotes the portions of Morenz’s writings that suit their specific goals in regards to the Trinity doctrine, but fails to note that Siegfried Morenz went on to claim that:

“The doctrine of creation through the word … was one of the principal elements in the Egyptian cosmogony … Less important, but more readily comprehensible, is the influence of the Egyptian court chronicle upon the literary form of the Israelites’ chronicle account of David and Solomon … Isaiah’s famous list of appellations for the Prince of Peace … is probably derived from the fivefold titulary of the Egyptian king … Other passages can, however, be claimed as Egyptian in inspiration: for instance, the Egyptian … lists of knowledge, which were the basis of the proverbs which King Solomon spoke … religious forms of the land of the Nile also had an effect upon the New Testament and so upon early Christianity … a concept that figures in the New Testament has been taken to be ultimately of Egyptian origin, Jesus’s parable of Dives and Lazarus … the association between ship and tongue in the Epistle of St James, which was originally Egyptian. Romans: the proverbial ‘coals of fire’ which were to be heaped upon one’s enemy – derived from a Late Egyptian penitential rite … the acclamation … ‘God is One’ … is derived from one employed in the service of Sarapis … and this in turn comes from the early Egyptian theologians’ form ‘One is Amon.’” (Egyptian Religion, 1973, pp. 251-254)

 

ASK THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESS

• Do you believe that the “doctrine of creation through the word” was derived from “Egyptian cosmogony”? Do you believe that Israel’s “chronicle account of David and Solomon” was derived from the “Egyptian court chronicle”? What about Jesus’ “parable of Dives and Lazarus” and James “association between ship and tongue” which are identical to religious concepts in Egypt that existed prior to the writing of these Biblical ideas?
• Are we to argue that these concepts in the Bible had their origin in pagan false religion simply because these concepts existed prior to the Scripture’s exposition of these thoughts? Are we to argue that the Biblical doctrine that “God is One” is “derived” from “the early Egyptian theologians’ form “One is Amon” because it existed in this pagan culture prior to Moses’ writing of Exodus and Deuteronomy?
• If not, then how can one tenably argue that the Trinity doctrine is derived from paganism simply because similar concepts existed in pagan culture prior to the formulation of Christian creeds — such as the creed of Athanasius?

Have you ever seen a counterfeit $3.00 bill? Obviously, since no United States $3.00 bill exists, one will search in vain to find a counterfeit $3.00 bill, for it would easily be recognized. Because the purpose of the counterfeit is to deceive people into substituting the counterfeit for the genuine, counterfeit money is designed to resemble only authentic bills. This same principle applies to the spiritual realm. Simply because one can find numerous similarities between Biblical doctrines and pagan religions, this does not prove that such doctrines are derived from paganism. Rather, on the contrary, such resemblance actually proves the deceitful tactics of Satan in counterfeiting God’s truth.

3. THE ANTE-NICENE FATHERS AND THE TRINITY DOCTRINE:

“On page 7 of the Watchtower Should You Believe in the Trinity brochure, the Watchtower misrepresents what the “Ante-Nicene Fathers” taught concerning the identity of Christ. Their point is that “the testimony of Bible and of history makes clear that the Trinity was unknown through Biblical times and for several centuries thereafter.” (Should You Believe in the Trinity, p. 7)

• One example of the deception of the Watchtower is what they say about Clemet of Alexandria. They say that: “Clemet of Alexandria, who died about 215 C.E., called God ‘the uncreated and imperishable and only true God.’ He said that the Son ‘is next to the only omnipotent Father’ but not equal to him.” (Should You Believe in the Trinity, p. 7)

• But Clement actually taught: “The Divine Word, He that is truly most manifest Deity, He that is made equal to the Lord of the universe; because He was His Son, and the Word was in God … I understand nothing else than the Holy Trinity to be meant; for the third is the Holy Spirit, and the Son is the second, by whom all things were made according to the will of the Father … There was, then, a Word importing an unbeginning eternity; as also the Word itself, that is, the Son of God, who being, by equality of substance, one with the Father, is eternal and uncreate.” (The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2, pp. 202, 468, 574)

4. THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST: “Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man.”

• At JOB 38:7 angels are called “sons of God,” but yet we read at Hebrews 1:5 that no angel is called God’s “son.”

• HEBREWS 1:4-6: “So he has become better than the angels, to the extent that he has inherited a name more excellent than theirs. For example, to which one of the angels did he ever say: ‘You are my son; I, today, I have become your father … and let all God’s angels do obeisance to him.” 1.

  • NOTE: The Greek word προσκυνεω (proskuneo) translated “obeisance” in the New World Translation of this passage means “worship” that belongs only to God. (See Acts 10:25-26)

If angels are called “sons of God” and Jesus is another “son of God” like all the other angels, why would the writer of Hebrews say, “to which of the angels did he ever say: ‘You are my Son’”? Why would he ask such a question when all angels are called “sons”? Could it be that he is indicating that Jesus’ relationship to the Father as “Son” is different than the relationship angels have as “sons of God”?

• At John 6:62 Jesus is called the “Son of Man.” Was Jesus born of a “man”? Is God a Man?2.

In what way is Jesus’ relationship to the Father as His “Son” different from the angels?

• John 19:7: “The Jews answered him: ‘We have a law, and according to the law he ought to die, because he made himself God’s son.”

What “Law” did the Jews understand Jesus to break by his claim to be the “Son of God”? Note the cross-reference in the NWT to Leviticus 24:16: “So the abuser of Jehovah’s name should be put to death without fail.”

Why was Jesus’ claim to be the “Son of God” considered blasphemy? The Jewish people in Jesus’ day understood the term “son of” to mean “of the order or nature of.” Therefore, when Jesus claimed to be the “Son of God,” the Jews understood Him to be claiming to be “of the order or nature of God.” Note the following passages:

• 1 KINGS 20:35: “Sons of the prophets” means “of the order of the prophets.”
• NEHEMIAH 12:28: “Sons of the singers” means “of the order of the singers.”
• EPHESIANS 2:2: “Sons of disobedience” means “having a disobedient nature.”
• JOHN 6:62: “Son of Man” means “of the order and nature of Man.”
• JOHN 5:18: “Son of God” means “of the order and nature of God.”

  “For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.” (John 5:18)

5. THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST: “The Son is of the Father alone: not made, nor created, but begotten.”

• JOHN 1:18: “No man has seen God at any time; the only-begotten god who is in the bosom [position] with the Father is the one that has explained him.”

  “It was thought that the term came from monos, meaning ‘only’ and gennao, meaning ‘begotten.’ However, further research has determined that the term is derived not from gennaw but from genos, meaning ‘kind’ or ‘type.’ Hence the better translation, ‘unique’ or ‘one of a kind.’” (The King James Only Controversy, p. 259)

  The Greek word (gegennaka) for “become your father” at Hebrews 1:5 is often translated “begotten.” If “begotten” means that Jesus was “created” (as the Watchtower claims), why does the writer of Hebrews indicate that Jesus is the only “Son of God” who was “begotten”? Doesn’t this prove that “begotten” cannot refer to a so-called creation event, but rather to Jesus’ “uniqueness” as the only “Son of God” by nature and the one who became the “Son of Man” at the incarnation (coming to earth) event that took place in Mary’s womb?

  But some may ask, “How can Jesus be God if John 1:18 says that ‘No man has seen God at any time.’ Since no man has seen God and Jesus was seen by many men, doesn’t this prove He can’t be God?” Those who assert such argument forget the fact that it was said of Jesus at Colossians 1:15: “He is the image of the invisible God.” The reason no man has seen God the Father is because He is “invisible” and “dwells in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen or can see” (1 Timothy 6:16). This is why when Philip asked Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus replied, “Have I been so long with you, and yet have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:8-9) Since no one can see the Father, Jesus (the only begotten God = one and only unique God) “has explained Him” or made Him manifest. Thus, we see that the Jehovah who appeared to Isaiah is indeed Jesus Himself!

• Isaiah 6:1, 5: “In the year that King Uzziah died I, however, got to see Jehovah … ‘Woe to me! … for my eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of armies, himself!’”

• John 12:35, 37-38, 41-42: “Jesus therefore said to them: The light will be among you a little while longer … they were not putting faith in him, so that the word of Isaiah the prophet was fulfilled … Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory, and he spoke about him. All the same, many even of the rulers actually put faith in him.”

NOTE: The footnote reference “e” in the margin of the Jehovah’s Witnesses New World Translation Bible for John 12:37 references this passage back to Isaiah 6:1, again confirming that Jesus is the Jehovah referred to in that passage.

WHO IS JEHOVAH? No man has ever seen God (John 1:18). God is not a man (Hosea 11:9), but He is “spirit” (John 4:24). Who is this Jehovah who appears as a “man,” has “hands” and “feet,” “eats” food and speaks to men visibly and “face-to-face”? He is the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ!

• Genesis 32:24, 28-30: “Finally Jacob was left by himself. Then a man began to grapple with him until the dawn ascended … for you have contended with God … ‘I have seen God face to face and yet my soul was delivered.’”
• Genesis 18:1-5, 8, 33; 19:1: “Afterward Jehovah appeared to him … When he raised his eyes, then he looked and there three men were standing … then he said: ‘Jehovah, if, now I have found favor in your eyes, please do not pass by your servant … Let a little water be taken, please, and you must have your feet washed. And let me get a piece of bread, and refresh your hearts.’ … Then he himself kept standing by them under the tree as they were eating … Then Jehovah went his way … Now the two angels arrived at Sodom by evening.”
• Genesis 16:13: “Then she began to call the name of Jehovah, who was speaking to her: You are a God of sight, for she said: ‘Have I here actually looked upon him who sees me?”
• Zechariah 14:3-5: “And Jehovah will certainly go forth and war against those nations … And his feet will actually stand in that day upon the mountain of the olive trees … Jehovah my God will certainly come, all the holy ones being with him.”
• Zechariah 11:13: “At that, Jehovah said to me: ‘Throw it to the treasury—the majestic value with which I have been valued from their standpoint. Accordingly I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw it into the treasury at the house of Jehovah.”

“FIRST BORN” = SUPREMACY OF POSITION:

• PSALM 89:27: David who was the last-born son of Jesse (1 Samuel 16:11) is called “first-born.”
• JEREMIAH 31:9: Ephraim, who was born after Manasseh (Genesis 41:51-52), is called “first-born.”
• EXODUS 4:22: Israel is called God’s “first-born” son.
• JOB 18:13: An illness is called “the first-born of death.”
• COLOSSIANS 1:18: Jesus is called “the firstborn from the dead.”

  If “firstborn” means first-created, why did the apostle Paul use the term prototokos which means “firstborn” or “pre-eminent one,” rather than the term protoxtioti which means “first-created”?

The whole context of Colossians chapter one is speaking about the supremacy of Christ as being the Creator rather than being of the creation. It is in this sense that Christ is called the “firstborn” or pre-eminent one of creation. Indeed, “He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; so that he might become the one who is first in all things; because [God] saw good for all fullness to dwell in him.” (Col. 1:18-19)

• Colossians 2:9: “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.” (New American Standard Bible)

NOTE: At Romans 11:36 and Hebrews 2:10 all things are said to be created “through” the Father. Since it is untenable to argue that the Father is not the Supreme Creator because all things were created “through” Him, it is untenable to argue that Jesus is not the Supreme Creator simply because all things were created “through” Him.

• Isaiah 9:6: “For there has been a child born to us … and his name will be called … Mighty God, Eternal Father.”

Since Jesus is not the same person as the Father, in what way is Jesus called the “Eternal Father”? Some Jewish translations of the passage have rendered this phrase as “Father of eternity.” Since Jesus has “no beginning of days” (Heb 7:3), He is indeed the “Father of eternity” as the One who possesses eternity.

• PROVERBS 8:22-23: “Jehovah himself produced me as the beginning of his way, the earliest of his achievements of long ago. From time indefinite I was installed, from the start, from times earlier than the earth.”

  If wisdom had to be created (was “produced”), are we to conclude that Jehovah God had NO wisdom until He created it? 3.

It is obvious that God wouldn’t be God if there was a time when He was without wisdom. Therefore, we must recognize that wisdom is just as eternal as God is. In fact, the same Hebrew word translated “everlasting” or “time indefinite” (owlam) which is used to express God’s eternal nature at Psalm 90:2 is used to express the eternal nature of wisdom at Proverbs 8:23. Thus, if Jesus is “wisdom” personified, then Jesus must be as “eternal” as Jehovah God is!

According to Hebrews 7:3, Melchizedek, who was a picture of Christ, had “neither beginning of days nor end of life … like the Son of God.”4. Indeed, our eternal High Priest/Mediator, Jesus Christ, has no “beginning of days,” for nothing that was created came into being “apart from Him.” (John 1:3)

• REVELATION 3:14: “And to the angel of the congregation in Laodicea write: These are the things that the Amen says, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation by God.”

“‘Beginning’ [Greek, ar-khe’] cannot rightly be interpreted to mean that Jesus was the ‘beginner’ of God’s creation. In his Bible writings, John uses various forms for the Greek word ar×khe’ more than 20 times, and these always have the common meaning of ‘beginning.’ Yes, Jesus was created by God as the beginning of God’s invisible creations.” (Should You Believe in the Trinity?, p. 14)

• The Society says that John’s use of the word “beginning” “always” has the meaning of “beginning.” But at Revelation 21:6 and 22:13, John quotes God Almighty as stating that He is “the beginning and the end.” 5. Why is Jehovah God called the “beginning”?

• Since this passage teaches that Jehovah God is the “beginning,” does this mean that Jehovah God had a “beginning”? Obviously not! So, what is Jehovah God the “beginning” of? Isn’t it obvious that He is the “beginning” of the whole created universe? Since Jehovah is the “beginning” of His creation, does this prove that Jehovah Himself had a “beginning”?

• If Jehovah God is called the “beginning” of the created universe and He is not regarded as being part of what He began (Rev. 21:6), why can’t Jesus be called the “beginning” of creation and He not be regarded as being part of the creation which He began? If the Greek word “arche” is used to indicate Jehovah’s power and authority as the originator or “beginner” of creation, is it tenable to argue that arche cannot be applied to Christ to indicate His power and authority as the “beginner” of creation?

Contrary to the Society’s claims, the Greek word αρχη (arche) is used to denote not only someone who is an originator, but also someone who is a ruler or magistrate. In fact, it is from this Greek word that our English words “architect” and “archbishop” are derived. Notice how arche is translated in the following passages found in the King James Version of the Bible:

ARCHE = RULER OR MAGISTRATE

• LUKE 12:11: “And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers.”
• LUKE 20:20: “So they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.”
• 1 CORINTHIANS 15:24: “When he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.”
• COLOSSIANS 2:10: “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.”

As far as arche being used to refer to the originator of something, notice how αρχηγος (archegos) a derivative of arche is translated in the following passages found in the New American Standard Bible:

ARCHE = ORIGINATOR

• ACTS 3:15: “but put to death the Prince of life.”
• HEBREWS 2:10: “To perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.”
• HEBREWS 12:2: “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.”

As is evident by the way arche is translated in these passages, the Society’s assertion that arche cannot be applied to Christ as the “‘beginner’ of God’s creation” is entirely without merit. At Revelation 3:14, Scripture is actually teaching that Jesus Christ is the Architect and Ruler of creation, for all creation began with Christ.

6. THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST: “Equal to the Father, as touching his Godhead: and inferior to the Father, as touching his Manhood.”

• JOHN 14:28: “The Father is greater than I.”

  At John 14:12, Christians are said to do “greater” works than Jesus. Does this mean that our works are “better” than Jesus’ works?

  An “elder” is in a “greater” position than a “ministerial servant.” Does this mean that the “elder” has a “better” human nature?

We can see how “as touching his Manhood,” Jesus is “inferior to the Father” as the Father was in a “greater” position (being in Heaven) than Jesus was here on earth. But this does not prove that Jesus was an “inferior” God simply because the Father is in a “greater” position of authority while Jesus was here on earth.

• 1 CORINTHIANS 15:28: “The Son himself will also subject himself to the One who subjected all things to him, that God may be all things to everyone.”

• At Luke 2:51, we read that Jesus “continued in subjection” to Mary and Joseph. Does this mean that He was inferior to them?

• 1 Corinthians 11:3 states that just as God the Father is the “head” of Christ, the “head of a woman is the man.” Does this mean that the woman is “inferior” to the man because she operates under the authority of her husband?

Just as submission in a marriage relationship brings unity and harmony into the marriage, so there is a functional subordination that exists between the Father and the Son. But this subordination does not prove that Jesus is any less God in His nature than the Father is God.

• JOHN 20:17: “I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.”

Why was Jesus always so careful to distinguish His relationship with the Father from the relationship that His followers have with the Father? Why did He say, “I go to My Father and your Father” instead of saying, “I go to our Father”? Jesus is God’s Son by nature, whereas we are God’s sons by adoption (John 1:12).

As the Son of God, Jesus possesses the same nature as God (John 5:18, 19:7), but in the incarnation, Jesus took on the nature of man and thus became the “Son of Man” (John 6:64). While in His Divine nature, Jesus still possesses the power and authority of God, it is in his human nature that Jesus refers to the Father as His God.

From the vantage point of His humanity, Jesus did not “know” certain things, but from the vantage point of His Deity, Jesus knows “all things” (John 16:30).

• JOHN 16:30: “Now we know that you know all things.”
• JOHN 18:4: “Jesus therefore, knowing all the things coming upon Him, went forth.”
• MATTHEW 9:4: “And Jesus, knowing their thoughts said.”
• JOHN 21:17: “So he said to him, ‘Lord, you know all things; you are aware that I have affection for you.’”

7.  JESUS RECEIVES WORSHIP ALONG WITH THE FATHER:

• REVELATION 5:8-9, 11-14: “And when he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp and golden bowls that were full of incense, and the [incense] means the prayers of the holy ones. And they sing a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy.’ And I heard a voice of many angels … and the elders … saying with a loud voice: ‘The Lamb that was slaughtered is worthy to receive the power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. And every creature that is in heaven and on earth and underneath the earth and on the sea, and all the things in them, I heard saying: ‘To the One sitting on the throne and to the Lamb be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the might forever and ever.’ And the four living creatures when saying: ‘Amen!’ and the elders fell down and worshiped.” (New World Translation)

• NOTE: The Society’s New World Translation leaves out the “me” in “ask Me” in this verse because Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe that Jesus should receive worship by prayer. Not only does Jesus encourage His followers to pray directly to Him, but Jesus also is the one who answers the prayers! 6.
• ACTS 7:59: “And they went on casting stones at Stephen as he made appeal and said: ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’”
• NOTE: Stephen made his prayer (appeal) to Jesus AFTER his vision of Jesus at verses 54-55. Immediately after Stephen’s vision of Jesus, the Jews “rushed upon him” and “after throwing him outside the city, they began casting stones at him” (vs 57-58). Thus, Stephen DID NOT PRAY TO JESUS DURING HIS VISION but afterward, just before his death.
• 2 CORINTHIANS 12:8-9: “In this behalf I three times entreated the Lord that it might depart from me; and yet he really said to me: My undeserved kindness is sufficient for you; for [my] power is being made perfect in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, will I boast as respects my weakness, that the power of Christ may like a tent remain over me.”
• Here we see that Paul prays to Jesus “three times” and Jesus is the one answering the prayer. Thus, Paul realizes that it is Jesus’ “power” that is his strength.
• MATTHEW 4:10: “Then Jesus said to him: ‘It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.’”
• Since Jehovah God is the ONLY one we are to worship, doesn’t the fact that Jesus is “worshipped” along with the Father and receives and answers prayers, prove that Jesus is God Almighty?
• JOHN 5:23: “In order that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He that does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.”

8.  JESUS PLACES HIS NAME ON GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT:

9. JESUS POSSESSES THE AUTHORITY TO FORGIVE SINS:

Since only God has the authority to forgive sins, who is Jesus revealing Himself to be?

10. JESUS POSSESSES THE AUTHORITY TO GIVE ETERNAL LIFE:

Have you “come to Jesus” by asking Him to give you eternal life?

• JOHN 10:28: “And I give them eternal life, and they will be not means ever be destroyed, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

11. JESUS IS THE GREAT GOD AND SAVIOR:

GRANVILLE SHARP’S GREEK GRAMMAR RULE:

In the case where TWO NOUNS that are DESCRIBING A PERSON are CONNECTED by the word “AND,” and the FIRST NOUN HAS THE ARTICLE (“the”) while the SECOND NOUN DOES NOT, BOTH NOUNS ARE REFERRING TO THE SAME PERSON. Sharp’s rule is valid only for singular nouns — not plural nouns, and it is not intended to be applied to proper names.

ISAIAH 43:11; 45:21: “I — I am Jehovah, and beside me there is no savior … Is it not I, Jehovah, besides whom there is not other God, a righteous God and a Savior, there being none excepting me?” (New World Translation)

12. JESUS IS THE ALMIGHTY JEHOVAH:

REVELATION 1:7-8: “Look! He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those who pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in grief because of him. Yes, Amen. ‘I am the Al’pha and the O×me’ga,’ says Jehovah God, ‘the One who is and who was and who is coming, the Almighty.’” (New World Translation)

REVELATION 22: 12-13: “‘Look! I am coming quickly, and the reward I give is with me, to render to each one as his work is. I am the Al’pha and the O×me’ga, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.’” (New World Translation)

REVELATION 22:20: “He that bears witness of these things says, ‘Yes; I am coming quickly.’ ‘Amen! Come, Lord Jesus.’” (New World Translation)

ISAIAH 44:6; 48:12: “This is what Jehovah has said, the King of Israel and the Repurchaser of him, Jehovah of armies, ‘I am the first and I am the last, and beside me there is no God.’ ‘Listen to me, O Jacob, and you Israel my called one. I am the same One. I am the first. Moreover, I am the last.’” (New World Translation)

REVELATION 1:17-18; 2:8: “And when I saw him, I fell as dead at his feet. And he laid his right hand upon me and said: ‘Do not be fearful. I am the First and the Last, and the living one, and I became dead, but, look! I am living forever and ever’ … These are the things that he says, ‘the First and the Last,’ who became dead and came to life [again].” (New World Translation)

1. REVELATION 1:7-8:

2. REVELATION 22:12-13, 20:

• The “Alpha and Omega” is coming “quickly.”
• The “Alpha and Omega” is “the first and the last,” the “beginning and the end.”
• He who is coming “quickly” is the “Lord Jesus.”

3. ISAIAH 44:6; 48:12:

• Jehovah is the “first” and the “last.”

4. REVELATION 1:17-18; 2:8:

• The “First and the Last” is Jesus “who became dead and came to life [again].”

WHO IS JESUS?
Numerous titles and attributes of Jehovah found in the Hebrew Scriptures are applied directly to Jesus in the Christian Greek Scriptures.

• Jehovah knows “all things” (1 John 3:20; Psalm 147:5); Jesus knows “all things” (John 16:30).
• Jehovah is the only one who knows the hearts of all men (1 Kings 8:39; Jeremiah 17:9-10); Jesus knows the hearts of all men (John 2:24-25; Rev. 2:18, 23).
• Jehovah is our sanctifier (Exodus 31:13); Jesus sanctifies us (Hebrews 10:10).
• Jehovah is our peace (Judges 6:23); Jesus is our peace (Ephesians 2:14).
• Jehovah is our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6); Jesus is our righteousness ( 1 Corinthians 1:30).
• Jehovah is our healer (Exodus 15:26); Jesus heals us (Acts 9:34).
• Jehovah God dwells in us (2 Corinthians 6:16); Jesus is in us (Romans 8:10). 7.
• Jehovah is the giver of life who will not allow His people to be “snatched” out of His hand (Deuteronomy 32:39); Jesus is the giver of life who will not allow His people to be “snatched” out of His hand (John 10:28).
• Jehovah’s voice is “like the roar of rushing waters” (Ezekiel 43:2); Jesus’ “voice was like the sound of rushing waters” (Revelation 1:15).
• Jehovah is present everywhere (Proverbs 15:3; Jeremiah 23:24; I Kings 8:27); Jesus is omnipresent (John 1:48; Matthew 18:20; 28:20).
• Jehovah’s nature does not change (Malachi 3:6); Jesus’ nature does not change (Hebrews 13:8).
• Jehovah is the only God we are to “serve” (2 Kings 17:35); Jesus is to be served (Col. 3:24).
• Jehovah is the only God to be “worshipped” (Exodus 34:14); Jesus receives the same honor and “worship” that the Father receives (John 5:23; Revelation 5:11-14 compare with Revelation 4:10-11). 8. No angel can receive “worship.” (Revelation 22:8-9)
• Jehovah the Lord is to be set apart as holy (Isaiah 8:12b-13); Jesus as Jehovah is to be set apart as holy (1 Peter 3:14b-15a).
• Jehovah’s glory is not to be given to another (Isaiah 42:8); Jesus shares Jehovah’s glory (John. 17:5).
• God’s name is Jehovah (or Yahweh — YHWH) (Isaiah 42:8); Jesus has Jehovah’s name (John 17:11; John 16:14-15).
• Jehovah is the only God to be mentioned in prayer (Exodus 23:13); Christians are to pray to Jesus (John 14:14).
• Calling upon Jehovah (Joel 2:32) is the same as calling upon Jesus. (Acts 2:21; Romans 10:9-13) 9.
• Jehovah “the true God” is called “eternal life” (1 John 5:20); Jesus is called “the eternal life” (1 John 1:2).
• Jehovah is the “mighty God” (Jeremiah 32:17-18; Isaiah 10:20-21); Jesus is the “mighty God” (Isaiah 9:6) who is “Almighty” (Revelation 1:7-8). THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD. (1 Timothy 1:17; Isaiah 44:8)
• Jehovah is an “everlasting light” (Psalm 27:1; Isaiah 60:19-20); Jesus is the light of men and the everlasting light of the future city (John 1:4-9; Revelation 21:23).
• Jehovah is “the first and the last” (Isaiah 44:6; 48:12); Jesus is the “first and the last” (Revelation 1:17-18; 22:12-13, 20).
• Jehovah is the “Alpha and the Omega” (Revelation 1:8; Revelation 21:6-7); Jesus is the “Alpha and the Omega” (Revelation 22:12-13, 20).
• Jehovah’s title is “the Holy One” (Isaiah 47:4); Jesus is “the Holy One” (Acts 3:14; John 6:69).
• Jehovah is the “stumbling stone” of Israel (Isaiah 8:13-15); Jesus is the “stumbling stone” of Israel (1 Peter 2:6-8).
• John the Baptist was to prepare the way for Jehovah (Isaiah 40:3); The Jehovah who came was Jesus (Mark 1:1-4; John 1:6-7, 23).
• Jehovah is the one who was “pierced” (Zechariah 12:10); 10. Jesus is the pierced Jehovah (Rev. 1:7-8).
• The Jehovah who was sold for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:13) is Jesus. (Matthew 27:2-6)
• Jehovah is Lord of the elements (Psalm 89:8-9); Jesus is Lord of the elements (Matthew 8:26-27; John 2:7-9).
• Jehovah is the great Judge who gives life to whom he wishes and who renders to each man “according” to his “deeds” (Psalm 98:9; Deuteronomy 32:39; Jeremiah 17:9-10); Jesus is the only judge who gives life to whom he wishes and renders to each man “according” to his “deeds” (John 5:21-22; Revelation 2:18, 23).
• Jehovah is the only one who can forgive sins (Mark 2:7; Daniel 9:9); Jesus forgives sins (Mark 2:10-11; Luke 24:46-47).
• Jehovah is the great “shepherd” who leads his people to “the spring of the water of life” (Psalm 23:1-2; Revelation 21:6-7); Jesus as the “shepherd” of His people, leads them “to springs of the water of life” (John 10:11-18; Revelation 7:17). THERE IS ONLY ONE SHEPHERD. (John 10:16)
• Jehovah is “Lord of Lords” (Deuteronomy 10:17); Jesus is “Lord of Lords” (Revelation 17:14; 19:16). The Father is Lord of all (Matthew 11:25; Acts 17:24); Jesus is “Lord of all” (Acts 10:36). THERE IS ONLY ONE LORD. (Jude 4)
• Jehovah is the Savior (Isaiah 45:21-22); Jesus is the Savior (Titus 2:13; 2 Peter 1:1). THERE IS ONLY ONE SAVIOR. (Isaiah 43:11)
• Jehovah created the universe (Psalm 102:25-27); Jesus created the universe (John 1:3; Colossians 1:15-19; 11. Hebrews 1:10-12). 12. THERE IS ONLY ONE CREATOR. (Isaiah 44:24)
• Isaiah saw Jehovah (Isaiah 6:1-5); The Jehovah that Isaiah saw was Jesus (John 12:41).

Could it be that Jehovah gave Jesus all these qualities, and therefore, Jesus is a “lesser God” under Jehovah? No! For Jehovah declares: “For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me.” (Isaiah 46:9)

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1. Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are from the New World Translation.
2. Jesus was not begotten by a man. God is not a Man (Hosea 11:9), and Mary was a “virgin” (Matthew 1:23-25). Therefore, Jesus is called the “Son of Man” in the sense that He has the nature of Man.
3. The New American Standard Bible better translates these passages as it states that God “possessed” wisdom, rather than “produced” wisdom. These passages reveal how God brought forth wisdom to take part in His creation.
4. Melchizedek king of Salem was a high priest of God to whom Abraham bestowed his tithe (Genesis 14:18-20). Melchizedek’s name means “Righteous King” Priest of Salem (Peace). Thus, he is one of the people in the Old Testament that God used to be a picture of Christ to the Israelites. Just like Jesus Christ as God has always existed, so Melchizedek was “without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life” in the sense that this information was not recorded in Scripture so that Melchizedek would better represent the eternal nature of Jesus Christ our High Priest/Mediator.
5. At Revelation 1:8, Almighty God is revealed to be the “Alpha and the Omega.” At Revelation 21:6, the “Alpha and the Omega” states that He is the “beginning and the end.” Thus, it is Almighty God who is speaking here at Revelation 21:6 and 22:13.
6. Note there is a textual variance in the manuscripts of this passage. Some manuscripts do not have the “me” in this passage (like the KJV and NKJV Bibles), however the oldest and best Greek manuscripts that we have available today (including Papyrus 66 – the oldest manuscript of the book of John at about 125 C.E. and the Society’s manuscript of the Westcott and Hort manuscripts — Codex Siniaticus and Vaticanus) contain the “me.”
7. Every place where Jesus is said to dwell “in” someone, the Watchtower Society’s New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures mistranslates it to read “Christ is in union with you.” However, note that the correct translation of “in you” can be found in Romans 8:10 of the Society’s Greek/English Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures.
8. Also compare Isaiah 45:23 with Philippians 2:10-11.
9. The New World Translation inserts the word “Jehovah” for “Lord” 237 times into their Christian Scriptures without the support of a single Greek manuscript of the Christian Scriptures. This is the case with Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13. Note, however, the correct translation of “Lord” can be found in the Society’s Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures.
10. While the best Hebrew manuscripts available render Zechariah 12:10 as, “look upon Me whom they have pierced,” the New World Translation mistranslates it to read, “look to the One whom they have pierced.”
11. In this passage of Colossians, the New World Translation, adds the word “other” four times against all Greek manuscripts available. Note the correct translation of this passage can be found in the Society’s Kingdom Interlinear Translation.
12. Paul quotes Psalm 102:25-27 which speaks of Jehovah and applies this passage directly to Christ in Hebrews 1:10-12.