Jesus Christ

[gladtobeout]

275 REASONS WHY I BELIEVE THAT JESUS CHRIST IS A MAN (part B)

PART THREE: SOME OTHER GOOD REASONS

Here are some more good reasons to believe that Jesus’ nature is man, and that his identity can be summed up as the Son of man and the Son of God.

#234) 1 Corinthians 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. {To be “subject unto” means to be subordinated unto or submitted unto. If the Son is God then he shouldn’t be subject to anyone. Obviously we must apply a little spin to this verse, for it simply can’t mean what it clearly says.}

#235) 1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; {As I said, it is a tangled web of deceit that the devil has woven for nearly two millennia to try to conceal the simple truth about Jesus. There is only ONE God, and Jesus Christ is the sole mediator between that God and men. Jesus is defined here in the Bible as what; a God, a third of a God, the second person of the Triune Godhead, a God-man, a part of the Blessed Trinity? Absolutely not. It says “the man Christ Jesus.” And again, this is the present tense. This is his position today, not prior to his crucifixion and resurrection. Today, seated at the right hand of God, in heaven, he serves as the only mediator between God and men. If it says he is the man Christ Jesus, why are so many insisting that he is God?}

I will answer that question. It is because most men follow the crowd. They watch where others are going and they go the same way. Explain to me 1940s Germany otherwise. Did each of the millions of loyal Germans independently arrive at the concept of a need for world domination on their own, or were they persuaded by what they observed and heard from their neighbors, fellow workers, and relatives? You know the answer. You know that peer pressure alone brought the great majority of them into an acceptance of Hitler’s goals. The same is true of the millions of Christians in the world today who profess a belief in the Trinity. As mentioned above, the word trinity does not even exist in the Bible. Likewise, there is not one Bible passage that defines such a concept while omitting the word. No human can claim to have learned of these things through Biblical study. These are lies that have been passed down from one generation to the next, unquestioned by most. Yes, I know I am being very blunt. I am accusing you of having been taught by man rather than God if you are a believer in the Trinity. You never learned that information from the Bible. You have been taught to find verses that do not specifically dispute the Trinity and to profess that they are therefore teaching the Trinity, while overlooking dozens and dozens of scriptures that do specifically contradict the possibility of a Trinity. In common terms, you have been duped.

#236) James 1:13…God cannot be tempted with evil…:

#237) Hebrews 4:15 For we have not an high priest (referring to Jesus) which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.{The second verse says that Jesus, the high priest, was tempted in all points, but the first verse says God cannot be tempted. Surely you recall Jesus’ temptations in Matthew 4 and Luke 4. The web of deceit has to keep growing. You may have heard the explanation “Oh, well, you see, it was Christ’s human side that was tempted, not his God side.” What? Check your Bible. The term “God side” is not there. “Oh, but that’s okay, that’s just how we express what we all know to be true, that Jesus is fully God and fully man. That’s taught throughout the scriptures. Why, it’s the foundation of all Christianity!...” This non-biblical “truth” is used to relentlessly assault the simplicity of the Bible.}

#238) John 14: 28…If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. {If I said “the Father (referring to God) is greater than I” everyone would agree the meaning is simple, but if Jesus says it then simplicity goes out the door. Now it’s time to bring in the spin artists. It’s time for double talk; any illogical argument will suffice to prove that the Bible does not mean what the words would normally communicate. Millions, if not billions, of people have been discouraged from searching the Bible by these tactics of the devil to discredit its accuracy and precision. Oh, yes, I am saying that the devil is the originator of this lie about Jesus’ identity, and it is the devil’s influence that steers people into ignoring the words given by God in favor of those of men.}

#239) Matthew 28:18 And Jesus…spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. {Who gave him the power? “God the Father” you say? But Jesus is supposedly co-eternal and omnipotent. He would have always had all power.}

#240) 1 Corinthians 11:3 …the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. {This verse plainly shows Christ’s subordination to God, as well as their distinct identities. But again, we are Christians. We can ignore the plain meaning of words.}

#241) John 20:17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. {Jesus shows that his relationship to God and the Father is the same relationship that the brethren have. Oh, not to worry, we can write this verse off with 50-50 reasoning. This was the “man side” talking. Voila, problem solved.}

#242) John 5:30 I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. {Did Jesus actually have his own will? Wouldn’t his will have been identical to the Father’s will since they both are God?}

#243) Mark 14:35-36 And he…prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt. {A casual reading indicates that Jesus and the Father did have separate wills. Not surprisingly Jesus’ will was not to endure the coming crucifixion and other ordeals. But, his final decision was to do things God’s way. The explanation: “Well, you see, that was the human part of Jesus. You’ve got to understand, he was 50% human and 50% God.” But I never read that in the Bible. “Oh, well, you see, we all know that Jesus was...”}

#244) Ephesians 1:17-20…the God of our Lord Jesus Christ…raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, {God raised Christ from the dead and took him to heavenly places. One was dead. The other restored the dead one to life. God did not die. It was Christ. “Oh, well you see, it was God the Son that died. God the Father brought him back to life.” But the words God the Son aren’t in the Bible anywhere! “Well, you see, that’s taught throughout the Bible. Those exact words may not be there, but it’s obvious. We all know...”}

Why must we rely so much on words that aren’t in the Bible and reject the plain meaning of so many that are? In the words of Susan Pouter “Stop the insanity!”

#245) Mark 13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. {Only the Father knows the exact date when this age will come to an end. 1 John 3:20 declares that God “knoweth all things.” If Jesus is “fully God” why doesn’t he know everything? There is a simple explanation. The other explanation is “Well, you see, Jesus’ God side was being silent at this point. This was the man side of Jesus speaking and of course the man side wouldn’t know that information.”}

#246) Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent…{Yet Jesus is classified many times as a man and as the Son of man. “Oh, well, you see, this verse is talking about God the Father, not God the Son. The Son could be a man. We all know…” Yeah, we all know that when we see God face to face He will understand that it was perfectly acceptable of us to totally disregard what He had said because of what “we all knew.” Perhaps we’ll be big enough to sit down and explain to God how He should have worded these things differently.}

The totally unsubstantiated claim of there being a God the Son who is fully human and fully God (or half and half) is used over and over again to prove its own existence! This is called circular reasoning, but that doesn’t matter if sticking to your church’s teachings is more important than learning the truth.

#247-256) Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

Isaiah 44:6 Thus saith the LORD…beside me there is no God.

Isaiah 44: 8…Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.

Isaiah 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved… for I am God, and there is none else.

Malachi 2:10 Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?...

Mark 12:32-34 And the scribe said…for there is one God; and there is none other but he… And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:

Romans 3:30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify…

Ephesians 4:6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all…

1 Timothy 2:5…there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well…

{I don’t know how many times the Bible repeats the theme that there is only one God, but it is a large number. I only selected ten. The singularity of God is simply cast aside in the Trinity by a declaration that three things are actually one. There, that was simple. It does not matter that there is no scripture informing us that three can equal one, no scripture informing us that God exists in three different forms, no scripture informing us that we can bypass first grade math when we read the Bible. The verse from 1 Timothy bluntly excludes the possibility of Jesus Christ being within a “three part” God. All of that can be overlooked. Just apply a little Trinitarian mumbo-jumbo, or simply go with “Well, we all know…”}

#257) 1 Corinthians 8:6..to us there is but one God, the Father,… and one Lord Jesus Christ…{This verse also shows us there is only one God, and look how it specifically identifies “the Father” as being that God. The Son is not included, in fact, he is specifically excluded. This is no isolated peculiar verse. This is the norm.}

#258) John 8:17-18 It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me. {Jesus did not ignore first grade math. When counting himself and the Father Jesus came to a total of two. Here is the formula: 1+1=2. Many kindergarten children can calculate this. But on Sunday mornings the Lutherans, Baptists, Catholics, Methodists, and many others wave the magic wand and the rules of math and grammar vanish as they enter the fantasy world invented by Satan, the great deceiver. The end result – exactly as Satan had hoped, the Bible’s authority is reduced to that of a stack of Hallmark cards full of flowery niceties.}

#259-261) John 17:3…that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

2 John 3…from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father…

2 John 2:9… that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.

{I hated grammar when I was in the fourth grade but I do recall that when the word “and” is used it connects two things together. These verses, like many others, bring that same first grade math problem to the forefront. Jesus is mentioned many times using the word “and” to connect him to “the Father” or to “God.” Grammatically then they are different “things.” However, once you have read some Trinitarian writings you will realize that Christian realities need not be restricted by linguistic or mathematical laws. Christians can speak utter gibberish and declare it to be rock solid holy doctrine direct from the lips of God.}

#262) Revelation 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God…and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God…{This is Jesus speaking. Again, even when these future events occur Jesus will still be referring to the One to Whom he is subjected as “my God.” The Son of God has a God. God the Father does not. Why is that?}

#263) Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ… {Repeatedly the Bible establishes that “the Father” of Jesus and his “God” are the same entity. Jesus as “God the Son” should not have a God. He himself would be that God just as much as God the Father would be that God. We just don’t need this confusion ADDED to the Bible.}

#264) Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit… {Why would God commend (to place, set, or entrust) His spirit with anybody else? Oh, never mind. I forgot, this was the human half of the God-man talking. By the way, when does his God half talk? And why didn’t he ever mention his split nature? It must be because he knew how plainly it would later be revealed between the lines in our Bibles. There seems to be so much written between the lines that nullifies that which is on the lines. Isn’t that so helpful for us when it’s time to justify our doctrines?}

#265) I have heard it stated that there is no way a man could do what needed to be done to redeem mankind; it had to be God. The Bible flatly disagrees with this premise.

Romans 5:12-19 …by one man sin entered into the world…through the offence of one many be dead…the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many…by one man's offence death reigned by one…For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. {This passage emphasizes that one man (Adam) brought sin and death into the world, making many men sinners. Likewise, by one MAN the solution was provided. To declare that only God could come and fix the problems of the world is to declare that the Bible is wrong. One man made the mess. Another man cleaned it up.}

#266) 1 Corinthians 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. {The context reveals that the “first man” is Adam and the “second man” is Jesus. The first man held the power to wreak havoc on the universe by disobedience to God. The second man held the power to restore it all by obedience to God. God’s logic and sense of justice is perfect.}

#267) Colossians 1:13-15…his dear Son…Who is the image of the invisible God…

#268) 2 Corinthians 4:4… Christ, who is the image of God…{Jesus Christ is the image of God. The image of a couch is NOT the couch. It is a drawing, painting, photograph, or some other type of representation that reveals at least in part characteristics of the couch. Folks, if we don’t allow the words of the Bible to mean what they say then we have nothing when we hold a Bible in our hands. Christ is not God. He is the IMAGE of God. If you saw my son you might say he is the image of me since there is a strong family resemblance, but if you insist that he is me they will eventually haul you away to the funny farm.}

#269) John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. {Colossians 1:15 (see reason #267) said that God is invisible, and this verse says he is a Spirit. Do you really see no discrepancy between these descriptions of God and how Jesus is described in the Bible? If you honestly don’t see any discrepancy then you have read way too far into this paper. You are wasting your time.}

#270) John 5:43-45 I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not… How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father...{How utterly nonsensical the Bible becomes if we insist on inserting the Trinity doctrine into it! In its absence the passage makes perfect sense. With the doctrine thrown in we have to revise everything that Jesus said here. Now we have something like: “I, God the Son, am come in the name of God the Father, and ye receive me not…How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from all three essences of God contained in the Triune Godhead only? Do no think that I, the second part of the Godhead, will accuse you to the first part of the Godhead…” This revision work has to be performed countless hundreds of times.}

#271) Luke 10:22 All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. {Jesus clearly establishes that there is a father-son relationship between him and God. This type of relationship is very easily grasped by the human mind. Is God telling us that this relationship is very simple, yet privately wondering if we are going to be smart enough to figure out that in truth it is really quite complicated?}

#272) John 5:19 Then answered Jesus...The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do…these also doeth the Son likewise. {Trinitarian explanations declare that Jesus is omnipotent (all powerful) like God the Father. If you reject that this statement classifies Jesus as something far less than omnipotent then you simply reject language.}

#273) In the Bible there are about 20,000 singular pronouns used in referencing God. I’ll only count this as one reason, instead of 20,000. Wouldn’t a loving God go ahead and clearly communicate to us that there are actually three forms of Him instead of consistently sticking with this “solo” representation of Himself?

#274) The word “God” appears in the Bible over 3,800 times. I won’t list them all. Even though the singularity of God is not specifically spelled out in most of them, the fact that NOT ONE of them ever mentions God consisting of three parts, three essences, three forms, or three persons is strong evidence that there was no intention by the author (God) for the readers (humans) to infer that concept.

PART FOUR: EQUAL TIME

In the interest of “equal time” I will include a fuller explanation of the Trinity from The Catholic Encyclopedia.

The Trinity is the term employed to signify the central doctrine of the Christian religion-- the truth that in the unity of the Godhead there are Three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, these Three Persons being truly distinct one from another. Thus, in the words of the Athanasian Creed: "the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God." In this Trinity of Persons the Son is begotten of the Father by an eternal generation, and the Holy Spirit proceeds by an eternal procession from the Father and the Son. Yet, notwithstanding this difference as to origin, the Persons are co-eternal and co-equal: all alike are uncreated and omnipotent. This, the Church teaches, is the revelation regarding God’s nature which Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came upon earth to deliver to the world: and which she proposes to man as the foundation of her whole dogmatic system.

In Scripture there is as yet no single term by which the Three Divine Persons are denoted together. The word trias (of which the Latin trinitas is a translation) is first found in Theophilus of Antioch about A.D. 180. He speaks of "the Trinity of God [the Father], His Word and His Wisdom…

Did that clear things up? Here are some terms they used that are not in the Bible, nor are they in our common vernacular, nor do they have any intelligible meaning: 1) Trinity. 2) unity of the Godhead. 3) eternal generation. 4) eternal procession. 5) co-eternal. 6) Three Divine Persons. The second paragraph proclaims that in scripture “there is as yet no single term by which the Three Divine Persons are denoted together.” Does that mean that one day we might open our Bibles and the word denoting the Trinity will be there? What kind of evil have Christians accused God of having done; of having expected us all to understand an intricate doctrine full of double talk that changes the otherwise simple and clear meaning of hundreds of Bible verses? And not only that, but of also failing to ever come out and simply have the doctrine recorded, leaving us with an obligation to discover it between the lines! This vile attack on God’s character could only originate from one source. John 8:44 says “the devil…was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” It is the devil who authored this lie. You are the target. See John 10:10.}

Reason #275) In the continued interest of providing equal time let’s address a couple of verses often quoted as “proof” that Jesus is God or that there is a Trinity. I will count as only one “reason” the fact that most of these “proofs” can easily be shown to involve faulty interpretations of the scriptures, revealing the shallow studiousness of far too many Christians. For example:

John 10:30 I and my Father are one. {This is one of the most popular “proofs.” I’m sure you will agree that the word “God” does not follow the word “one,” but that is what is supposedly being implied. But it requires little skill to flip seven chapters over and read :}

John 17:11… Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

John 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: {Jesus prayed that his followers would “be one” in the same fashion as he and his Father were one. The meaning is once again obvious unless you have predetermined that you will not see it. The oneness has to mean a oneness of motivation, of purpose, or frame of mind. If Jesus meant “one God” in chapter 10, verse 30, then he was praying for his followers also to be “one God” in chapter 17. This would be madness. Should chapter 17 be ignored in order to maintain your traditional beliefs?}

Another favorite “proof” is part of John 14:9.

John 14:9 …he that hath seen me hath seen the Father…{Reading only that part of the verse does sound as if Jesus was claiming to be God, but this is a perfect example of failure to rightly divide the word of truth as is called for in 2 Timothy 2:15. The context shows that Jesus was speaking of understanding God, not of seeing him with the two eyes. Let’s review the context.

John 14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions…I go to prepare a place for you.

Verse 3… I will come again, and receive you unto myself…

Verse 4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

Verse 5 Thomas saith… we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

Verse 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. {Jesus’ identity again revealed as different from the Father’s.}

Verse 7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. {The word “known” used 3 times here is translated from the Greek word ginosko which means to perceive or gain an insight into something, not just a shallow “knowing.” I “know” my mailman in the sense that I would recognize him at the grocery store, but that’s about it. I don’t know his name, his educational background, where he grew up, what his favorite activities are, etc. etc..To know him in the sense of the word ginosko I would have to spend some quality time with him and pay attention. Then I could perceive what he is actually all about. In this verse Jesus is reproving Thomas for not having figured out what he was all about. He says that Thomas would have gained an understanding of what God is all about if he had just gained that understanding about himself. Why would Jesus make that claim? Very simply because it was totally true. According to John 4:34 and 6:38 his purpose was to always do the will of the One that sent him. Anyone watching and listening to Jesus closely would have been provided with the perfect explanation as to all that God is.}

Verse 8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. {Obviously Philip was asking Jesus to explain to them the Father. The Greek word deiknuo, translated as “shew” in this verse can mean to lift the finger and point at something to show, or it can mean to explain with words to show. Certainly Philip was not requesting that Jesus point at a visible “Father” hiding behind a tree or standing in a crowd. He was asking Jesus to verbally explain the Father unto them.}

Verse 9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?... {The word “known” is once again translated from ginosko. First it was Thomas getting reproved. Now it’s Philip’s turn. Then Jesus continues.}

…he that hath seen (orao) me hath seen (orao) the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? {The Greek word orao, translated twice as “seen” can mean either to see with the two eyes or to “see” in the mind, to perceive. Therefore this statement can have ONLY ONE MEANING. With the entire context revolving around the idea of learning all about God by paying attention to Jesus, he has to be saying “…he that hath perceived me hath perceived the Father.” Do you see what I mean? When I ask “Do you see what I mean” I am using the English word “see” in the same way as this Greek word orao is often used. If you still insist that Jesus did in fact intend to communicate seeing with the eyes in verse 9 then you are claiming that Jesus is actually God the Father. Please read the verse again. It does not say “…he that hath seen me hath seen God;” it says “…he that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” Jesus would have to be his own Father! This is utter nonsense. Oh, what a web this lie started!}

There are other passages that are frequently quoted to support the doctrine of the Trinity. I am not going to address any more. I wrote this paper with the desire to prod you into “searching the scriptures” as the Bereans did in Acts 17:11 to see if they were being taught accurately. If you are willing to look more closely at what the Bible says about this subject there are excellent books that will help you work through this subject without compromising on logic, math, linguistics, or common sense. Here are a few of them.

Who is Jesus by Anthony Buzzard. Call Atlanta Bible College at 1-800-347-4261

They Never Told me this in Church by Greg Deuble. Call 1-800-347-4261

One God and One Lord by Graeser, Lynn, and Schoenheit. Call 1-317-255-6189

The Doctrine of The Trinity – Christianity’s Self Inflicted Wound by Buzzard and Hunting. (This is a more scholarly work.) Call 1-800-347-4261

I remind you that if you met my son and me you would probably notice some strong similarities. However, similar things are NOT identical things. Jesus is similar to God in many ways but he is also different in a number of ways. As noted above Jesus has a God. God the Father does not. Jesus is subject to God the Father. God the Father is subject to no one. God knows everything. Jesus does not. God can not be tempted. Jesus was tempted in every point. God is spirit and is invisible. Jesus is a man. God is all-powerful. Jesus could do nothing of himself. Etc., etc...

I have presented 275 reasons why I believe Jesus’ nature is man and his identity includes being the Son of God, the Son of Man, the Messiah, and other things. Neither his nature nor his identity is God. The Bible contradicts the mere possibility of Jesus being God in many ways. The body of evidence is overwhelming. While I only provided a “defense” to two pieces of evidence used to support the claim that Jesus is God I have recommended several excellent books that will defend many more in a logical, straightforward fashion using no double-talk. I did not address the additional claim of the Trinity doctrine concerning the Holy Spirit being God. That was not the intent of this paper.

Jesus Christ was not, is not, and never will be God. He is as the Bible portrays him. He is the man who was brought into this world with no sin, remained sinless, accepted the sins of the whole world into himself, and experienced death as the consequence of those sins. No other man will love like the Lord Jesus Christ. He deserves all of the honor that the Bible says he will one day receive. He is the one and only perfect hero in mankind’s history. He will one day be The Lord of Lords and The King of Kings. But, he is not God. To call him that is to add to the Bible. We should not take this lightly. God has often forbidden adding to His words.

Deuteronomy 4:2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

Proverbs 30:5-6 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

[gladtobeout]

T-Bone,

Maybe this will help.