Doctrine Series

Salvation by Grace Alone through Faith Alone

Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. ² For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. ³ For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. ⁴ For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
⁵ For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.” ⁶ But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) ⁷ or, “‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸ But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): ⁹ that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”  ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. ¹³ For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:1-13

Paul is speaking in this passage about his brothers of the flesh meaning the Jews. They had gone about seeking a righteousness of their own, and not the righteousness of God which is found in Christ. Today, we will confirm that salvation is by grace through faith – alone.

To do this, we will choose the supposed gospel message of two prominent preachers to show where their fault is, and that what they proclaim is actually quite different than what Paul speaks of here. The messages actually boil down to one thought, and one thought alone – self. Let us endeavor to keep “self” out of the equation, except where God allows such an insertion.

During the Reformation, one of the points which was raised was that of the Five Solas, meaning “Five Alones.” These were an obvious and open rebuke to the Roman Catholic Church which had, by their time, violated every precept of sound Christianity one could think of.

Roman Catholicism is a “plus” religion. But in God, there is no “plus.” What He decrees is fully sufficient in and of itself, and we need go no further than what He conveys to us to know if our state before Him is acceptable or not. The Five Solas, these “Five Alones,” are –

Sola Scriptura (“Scripture Alone”): The Bible alone is our sole authority for knowing God’s intent for His people. We need nothing more to know our standing before Him.

Sola Fide (“Faith Alone”): We are saved through faith in Jesus Christ, and that alone. Nothing else that we do can add to our salvation, and nothing else can make us “more” saved.

Sola Gratia (“Grace Alone”): We are saved by the grace of God alone. Nothing apart from God, and what He has done in Jesus Christ, can add to our salvation. The things we do may be in obedience to His word, such as being baptized, but they add nothing to the grace which is imparted to those who demonstrate faith.

Solus Christus or Solo Christo (“Christ Alone” or “Through Christ Alone”): A priestly class of mediators is unnecessary. We are saved through Christ’s work, He is our One Mediator between us and God, and there needs to be no intermediate to go before the Lord on our behalf. Jesus Christ alone is our Door of Salvation, and He is the Way to and through that Door as well. And once we are saved, He continues to be our only needed contact with the God of the universe.

Soli Deo Gloria (“to the glory of God alone”): We live for the glory of God alone, and we give no glory to any other being apart from God.

Everything that is good, right, and holy concerning these Five Solas is obliterated by the Roman Catholic Church. Roman Catholicism adds to each of these. For them, it is Scripture “plus” the church Canons, councils, edicts, and papal bulls. For them, it is faith plus works. For them it is grace, plus cooperation to obtain greater graces. For them, it is Christ plus Mary, Christ plus the pope, Christ plus the priests, and so on. And for them, glory is to be ascribed to Mary, it is ascribed to the pope, it is ascribed to the church, and it is ascribed to the saints. Reverence, prayer, petition, and even worship are given to these lesser “gods” which are no gods at all.

For each point, Roman Catholicism adds – plus, plus, plus, plus, and plus. The soundness of the faith, given to us by God through Jesus Christ, is utterly ruined and worthless in the presence of such “plusing.” In its place is a chaotic stream of man’s invention and a rejection of the purity of what is conveyed to us in the pages of Scripture.

Text Verse: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2:8, 9

Of these points, most people who fall under the general umbrella of Protestantism accept that the doctrine of these Solas is sound, and there is – at first – a high degree of agreement in the general thought of what is being conveyed. Indeed, if almost anyone is asked, “Do you believe in “Sola Scriptura?” The answer will inevitably be, “Yes, of course.”

But for the large part, this is then immediately violated in their teachings. It is one thing to cite a rabbi, the Talmud, John Calvin, or Charlie Garrett, and it is a completely different thing to cite them as equal in authority to what is written in Scripture. But this is as common as oranges in Florida at harvest time.

For example, what is taught concerning the Feasts of the Lord, by almost every single person who has taught on the subject, injects countless Jewish traditions which are not even hinted at in Scripture, holding them up as authoritative.

Because of this, there is almost no understanding of the correct meaning of these feasts by the vast majority of Christians. Indeed, the number of those who truly “get” what is conveyed there is probably less than one percent of one percent of those who have even heard of them.

In the same manner, if you ask someone, “Do you believe in Sola Fide and Sola Gratia?” The answer will be “Of course! That is what the Bible teaches. I completely reject the Roman Catholic notion of such things.” And yet, what they say very well may not be true at all.

It is our duty to pay attention to what is being said as we listen to others who convey their idea about such things. In the end, we should be well-versed enough to know where error has crept into someone else’s theology. This error may not be heretical, but it is simply incorrect.

Incorrect implies the need for correction. Let us ensure that we stick to the basics given by God – meaning those things which are irreducible in their simplicity, and which convey only the truth of what He has delivered to us. Such truths are right there waiting to be found in His superior word, and so, let’s both turn to and contemplate that precious word once again, and may God speak to us through His word today. And may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. The Way of the Master

How many of us have listened to Ray Comfort evangelize someone on the street? He does a great job of it, doesn’t he? His ministry is called, “The Way of the Master.” The reason for this is that when Jesus spoke to people, He would get right to the heart of the matter.

He was able to discern what was amiss in someone’s idea of what they needed to do in order to be right with God. Some people that He spoke to were so broken that He would simply give them grace, they would receive it, and they would go away restored in mind and soul.

We might think of a person who is completely down in heart and soul, he understands that he is as vile as any man who ever lived, but he doesn’t know what to do about it. “Oh God, I am wretched and naked, and I can’t find a covering for my sin.”

Such a person does not need the weight of the law cast upon him. He already has that burden weighing him down. Jesus wouldn’t walk up to such a person and say, “Yes, you are vile, but now I’m going to show you how truly vile you are. Not only did you commit adultery, but you also failed in the following 427 points of the law since you woke up this morning…”

Rather, He brought them grace, and they took the package, opened it, and through tears of joy and release, they went away full, clean, and satisfied. Here is an example for you to see this from Luke 7:44-50 –

Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. ⁴⁵ You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. ⁴⁶ You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. ⁴⁷ Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
⁴⁸ Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
⁴⁹ And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
⁵⁰ Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

This sinful woman went away forgiven, free, and filled with the hope that only Christ can provide. On the other hand, when someone would come to Jesus with a streak of greed, pride, or idolatry in his heart, He would bring it right out to the surface.

From there, He would either break that streak and then give him grace, or the person would be so caught up in what trapped him that he would leave without any conversion at all. Maybe he would even leave loving God less than before. An example of this is found in Mark 10 –

Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”
¹⁸ So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”
²⁰ And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.”
²¹ Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”
²² But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Mark 10:17-22

Jesus knew the heart of the man before the first question was asked of Him. Instead of giving him grace, He gave him the law. “Here, this is what you need to do.” In an act of pride in the law, he responded as one under law would be expected to respond – “I’ve done all those things.”

But Jesus then got to the heart of the matter. The same God who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”

The man loved his possessions, and quite possibly his personal obedience to the law – pick and choose as it may be – more than he loved the Lord his God.

This is The Way of the Master. Look at each individual, evaluate what they need, and then give that to them. If they need grace, why would you give them the law which negates grace? If they think they don’t need grace – “Well, I’m a good person,” then give them the law.

Once they see the weight of the law, and once that weight and burden terrifies them, then give them the grace that they thought they didn’t need, but which they now realize they desperately need. And what is that grace? It is “Grace Alone” as we have already seen.

Ray Comfort does a great job of sending someone down the right path for most of the way that he sends them. He can get them right to the point where they realize they need GRACE! And then… he fails to give them what the Bible offers.

The problem with Ray’s approach isn’t the approach. It is the failure to make a distinction between what happened before Jesus was crucified, and what happens now.

Jesus never told anyone that they could violate the Law of Moses. These people needed to repent, or change their mind, and turn from their violations of the law. This is what John the Baptist proclaimed, and it is what Jesus continued to tell the people, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).

Unfortunately, Ray Comfort continues with this in a completely different dispensation. The dispensation of the Law was only a tutor to lead people to Christ Jesus. Until Christ was crucified, the grace of God which saves through Jesus Christ could not be granted. Instead, people observed the law, repented when they failed, and looked for mercy through the sacrificial system.

With the coming of Christ, the grace of God is revealed. It is a revelation which says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8, 9).

To understand what this means, that God’s salvation is a gift and that it comes through faith, one must simply understand what this gospel message is. Paul declares it in 1 Corinthians 15 –

“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, ² by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
³ For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

Paul then tells us how this is appropriated –

“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): ⁹ that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:8-10 

Paul calls this gospel “the word of faith.” He then says that it is obtained through confession with the mouth, something which is not – by the way – a work, as is preposterously claimed by some. One believes and confesses. We’ll talk about that more later. In this, they are saved. From there, Paul tells what this means to the believer –

“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:13, 14

This, then, is the gospel message, it is the process of receiving it, and it ends in the stated result. It is a process of belief leading to salvation. And so, what is wrong with Ray Comfort’s message? His message adds to this simple process given by Paul, and which is in accord with the other apostles.

How does Ray Comfort add to the message? Listen to his presentation on one of a thousand videos he has posted. He consistently tells his hearer, “You must repent.” He then explains that as, “you must turn from your sin.” He says it again and again. And he is causing damage to the gospel, and to the hearer of his false gospel, each time he says it.

Although this is a truth for Christians, it is not the gospel of their salvation. It is an addition to it, and thus, it is not the gospel of their salvation. It is a false gospel of faith plus works, which is different than Roman Catholicism only in order and type.

First, the Greek word for “repent” is metanoeó. It simply means “to change one’s mind or purpose.” Paul never uses the term in conjunction with salvation or the reception of the Spirit – never. The closest he ever gets to this is in 1 Corinthians 7:10, where he says, “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”

Paul does not mean that repentance is necessary for salvation. He is saying that godly sorrow for one’s state in life will lead them to seek out the salvation found in Christ. It is a changing of the mind. It must be remembered that salvation is based on faith in what Christ did, not on works.

One cannot be saved by merely repenting from sin. If a drunk gives up drinking and yet has no faith in Christ, he will never be saved. Paul’s words cannot be used in and of themselves to say, “repentance leads to salvation.”

But that is how Ray Comfort presents his message – “You must do this in order to be saved.” If someone does give up his sins, based on what Ray Comfort says, it does not mean that he is any closer to God than before giving them up.

Instead, it is the grace of Christ which saves. The repentance of a sin may lead to faith in Him, or it may not. Either way, it is only by grace through faith that one is saved.

On the other hand, there is a sorrow of the world that Paul also writes about. There are many types of sorrows in the natural world. If we are sorry over losing a bank account full of money, that doesn’t lead us to God. Instead, it just leads us to frustration and bitterness. If we are sorry over losing our girlfriend, that hasn’t helped us in our spiritual life at all. Instead, it is simply a sorrow which is natural and of this world.

For the drunk who gives up drinking. If he is sorry for being a drunk because it led him to lose his job, he may change his mind (repent), give up drinking, and get his job back. In this, he may become proud and say, “Look at what I have done.”

This sorrow then only produced death in him because of the sin of pride. Ultimately, through such sorrow there can only be regret. In the end, it produces nothing concerning salvation, but it continues to produce death in the unbeliever. But this is what Ray Comfort adds to his gospel. As he says, “You must repent, turn from your sin, and come to Jesus.”

Those words are not found in the gospel which we read earlier in 1 Corinthians 15, and thus they are an addition to the gospel. As there can be no addition to the gospel, then it is a false gospel. Always be careful when handing out tracts that the Ray Comfort false gospel is not a part of the tract you are handing out.

For example, the tract “How Can We Know We’ll Go To Heaven,” written by Randy Alcorn, and which follows the Ray Comfort model says –

We cannot pay our own way. Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Because of Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross on our behalf, God freely offers us forgiveness.

To be forgiven, we must recognize and repent of our sins. Forgiveness is not automatic. It’s conditioned upon confession: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

The author of this tract does not understand either the meaning of grace, nor does he understand the gospel as the Bible proclaims it. He further has taken a verse from 1 John out of it intended context. When we believe the gospel, and accept it as our payment for sins, we are forgiven – wholly and completely – past, present, and future.

Without giving a minute analysis of 1 John 1:9, suffice it to say that it is strategically placed between two antithetical proclamations –

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” 1 John 1:8-10

The premise of coming to Christ is that a person is acknowledging he is a sinner. There is no other need to call on Christ. Thus, a person who does so is admitting he has sin – exactly as 1 Corinthians 15 states. Further, confession is not the same as repentance, or “changing one’s mind.”

And finally, the idea of repentance, as laid out in this tract, or as given by Ray Comfort, is not what the biblical idea of repentance actually means. Their implication is that a person must first turn from his sin in order to be saved. That is not a part of the gospel, and thus it is a false gospel.

Nobody who needs to go to the doctor says, “I need to get myself better so I can go see the doctor.” That is putting the Ray Comfort Cart of Works before his horse. Instead, one goes to the doctor, is given the cure for his ills, and then – in faithful obedience to the salvation he has obtained, goes about in Christ’s sufficient power correcting his many deficiencies – hopefully.

But just as a person may or may not continue in the antibiotics given by the doctor, so a person may not continue to heal in his pursuit of the Lord. The Bible instruction we receive, after being saved, will determine the health of our walk. But it does not affect our arrival at the end. That was accomplished through a judicial act of Christ, justifying us – once and for all – when we received the grace of His gospel through faith.

The use of the word, “repent,” as given by Ray Comfort, is both misleading and it is harmful, because it presents giving up one’s sin as a necessary part of salvation. It is a false gospel. But… you may say, “Paul may not have said that you must repent in order to be saved, but Peter did. It’s right there in Acts 2:38.”

This is a doctrinal problem that has nothing to do with the gospel. First, the book of Acts is a descriptive account of the establishment of the church. Outside of a very few verses from Jesus in Chapter 1, it prescribes almost nothing.

Secondly, the context of Acts 2:38 does not apply to any living person today – Jew or Gentile – who has never heard the gospel. And thirdly, Peter’s message of salvation through Christ is exactly the same as Paul. Paul confirms this while speaking of Peter and the other apostles in 1 Corinthians 15:11 –

“Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.”

Acts 2:38, where Peter was speaking to the Jews alone, says –

“Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”

Why did he say this to them? It is because they had just, within the past short period of time, rejected Jesus, nailing Him to the cross. In this, they had to repent, or “change their mind.” He wasn’t telling them to repent of anything else except their rejection of Christ. That is why a verse, preceding Peter’s instructions, said, “therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36).

If someone has, in his life, rejected the gospel, then – by default – he must repent of that. If he doesn’t change his mind about his previous rejection of the gospel, then he has not accepted the gospel. 1 + 1 will always equal 2 in theology, and for someone who has never heard the gospel, there is no repentance necessary in order to be saved.

He hears the word of faith, he has faith and confesses, and he is saved and sealed. The deal is done. No works were involved, and the sin-debt is paid for. Now, only now – after this act – can a person turn from his sin and be a fruitful member of the body of Christ.

With what will you come before the Lord?
What will you present for the sin of your soul?
What will bring you the great reward?
On what thing will you, your sins roll? 

Shall you accomplish a great and noble deed?
Claiming it is worthy of His praise?
Shall giving up a wicked life or one of greed…
Bring your honor, blessing, and eternal days?

Rather, come to your God in faith of His grace
Come to Him with hands empty of any pride
By grace through faith alone will you see His smiling face
And through that alone will you in heaven reside

II. Lordship Salvation

Many have heard of John MacArthur. He is well known, articulate, and a great presenter of the Bible. However, he – at least at one time and maybe still – taught what is known as “Lordship Salvation.”

It is certain that if you ask John MacArthur if he believes in Sola Fide and Sola Gratia – Salvation by faith and salvation by grace as conveyed by Paul in Ephesians 2:8, 9 – he will certainly say, “Yes.” Only a fool would not do so, and he is not a fool.

But if he still teaches Lordship salvation, then – like Ray Comfort – he proclaims a false gospel which adds to the three simple sets of verses we cited above, meaning from 1 Corinthians 15, Romans 10, and Ephesians 1. Putting what he says side by side with Paul’s gospel, as we now will, then shows us the problem with his theology.

First, the question must be asked, “Is it sufficient to only believe in Christ according to the gospel in order to be saved, or is it also necessary that He is accepted as Lord in order to be saved?”

In this, there is the obvious secondary question of “What does ‘Lord’ mean?” The Lordship view of salvation, as taught by John MacArthur, says that in order to be saved one must accept Christ as Lord (meaning Master), as well as Savior from sin, in order to be saved.

John MacArthur says Lordship salvation is “the view that for salvation a person must trust Jesus Christ as Savior from sin and must also commit himself to Christ as Lord of his life, submitting to his sovereign authority” (MacArthur, The Gospel According to Jesus, pp 33-34).

This is not the gospel. The gospel is clear and has been presented already. Several problems with what MacArthur says involve – as many such false teachings do – a misunderstanding of the context of what the Bible is presenting.

When Jesus said, for example, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46), who was He speaking to? He was speaking to Israel. It was Israel, still under the law, and prior to His crucifixion. The plan of salvation was not complete.

To mix what is said in the synoptic gospels with what is said in the epistles will inevitably – not just maybe or sometimes – lead to faulty doctrine. Jesus was instructing Israel under the law. The law was a tutor to lead the people to Him.

What Jesus says in that context may apply later in another context, or it may not. But if it conflicts with the epistles, then it obviously does not. But the context of pre- and post-crucifixion/resurrection is not the same, and the intent of the words spoken during those different times, those different dispensations, falls under those different contexts. An example would be Luke 21:36 –

“Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

When one comes to Christ, he is saved. There is no need to pray beyond that to be counted worthy. The believer is imputed Christ’s righteousness and is made worthy, not because of himself or what he will do, but because of Christ and what He has done. Rather, Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 1:11, 12 –

“Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, ¹² that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul doesn’t pray that we will be worthy to stand before Christ, but that we will be worthy of the calling with which we have been called. The deal is done, but the state of the person in his new position is ongoing. John MacArthur fails to make this distinction. Some of the problems with Lordship salvation are:

1) Salvation and discipleship are confused. One cannot make Christ Lord until one knows what that entails, which is not a provision of the simple gospel which we have already stated. Further, if one never gets a Bible and has no Bible teaching after his salvation, he can never, be obedient in this way. Never.

We are so heaped up with Bibles and supposed experts of the Bible, that we think our way is the way it always has been and the way it is everywhere. But this is not the case. Without a Bible, which includes almost all Christians of history – until the rather recent past, and which continues in most of the world today – we can have no idea what we are expected to do.

2) It places the necessity of doing works (which accompany submitting to Christ’s Lordship) as a condition of receiving the gift of salvation. This is something which is not required according to the gospel. It is contrary to the gospel, and thus it is a false gospel. A gift cannot be earned; hence, the term “gift.”

3) It mixes what is implicit in having, and growing in, faith (such as obedience) with what is explicitly necessary to be saved. It adds to the simple gospel, and thus, it is a false gospel.

4) Like Roman Catholicism, it overstates the connection between faith and works by elevating works to being a part of the gospel, claiming there is an inevitable connection between them – which there is not, as is seen, for example, in 2 Peter 1–

“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, ⁶ to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, ⁷ to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. ⁸ For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.” 2 Peter 1:5-9

This same logic is not unique to 2 Peter, and it dispels the false notion of the false gospel of Lordship salvation presented by John MacArthur.

5) It stereotypes the Bible’s view of grace, which is unmerited favor (how can grace be anything but free?), by labeling it “easy believism.” But the apostles taught that one is saved by belief. Call it whatever you will – easy believism, apple pie, or the path to restoration, it doesn’t change what the Bible says. John MacArthur attacks the true gospel with name-calling in order to promote his false gospel.

6) It fails to recognize that there is a distinction between justification and sanctification. Each has its place and one is not exclusive of the other.

7) Lordship salvation makes faithfulness to Christ to the end, meaning perseverance, a condition of knowing that one is saved. 1 Corinthians 3 and 5, and 2 Corinthians 5 (which deal with rewards and losses and earthly punishment) explicitly dispel any notion of this false concept.

Further, it calls into question the sovereign decrees of God by saying that they can then change or be revoked. In other words, if a person is sealed with the Holy Spirit upon belief as a guarantee, and then that is revoked, it means that 1) God has changed His sovereign decree, 2) He has made an error in the first place, and 3) His guarantee of eternal life is not a guarantee at all. In short, it portrays God as not all-knowing, that He is vacillating, and that His word is not to be trusted.

8) Despite point 7, it inconsistently admits that a true and saved believer can be a “secret” believer and even be “backslidden” for an extended period.

Finally, concerning this failed system, the words of Paul in Romans 10 cannot be used to justify Lordship salvation. There, as stated before, Paul says –

“…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9

That is not speaking of making Christ Lord of one’s life, in the sense of, “Master, I will obey every precept of Yours if you will save me.” This is speaking of an entirely different precept, the deity of Jesus Christ.

The word “That” is a conjunction being used to tie together this verse with the thought in the preceding verse, “the word of faith.” This “word of faith” is explained by Paul and is what he preached. It is the means of obtaining “the righteousness of faith” mentioned in verse 10:6.

From there, he says, “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus…” Confession is more than the audible words which occur with the mouth. To “confess” is synonymous with to “profess.” One can confess a lie, but one only professes the truth.

The word is homologēsēs and the concept of agreement is to be found within it. The audible confession stands because of the inward profession. This is why Paul said in verse 10:8 that “the word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.” It is as close to us as the air which enters and exits our mouth and fills our lungs, and it is both audible in tone and truthful to the heart.

The reason for the audible profession is obvious. No one would hide their true belief in the Lordship of Jesus. If He is in fact Lord, then He is alive. If He is alive, then He triumphed over the cross. If He did this, then He was without sin because “the wages of sin is death.” If He is without sin, then He is Lord, meaning Yehovah, and thus God because “all have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God.”

As you can see by logically thinking this through, the incarnation of Jesus Christ – being the God/Man – is inextricably tied up in the confession of “the Lord Jesus.” One cannot deny His Lordship, meaning His deity, and be saved. This is the heart of what God has done in the stream of time for the redemption of mankind.

Therefore, confession “with your mouth” is the making of an open profession that Jesus is God, thus denying all other gods. This would have been particularly of note in Roman times when people within the empire were required to affirm the lordship of Caesar. For many, it was a life and death decision to call Jesus “Lord.” Most translations, rather than stating “the Lord Jesus” will say “Jesus is Lord.” This is to avoid confusion and to emphasize His Lordship; His deity.

Either way, one must make the confession which is a true profession as is seen in the words “and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead.” Paul directly ties the resurrection to Jesus’ Lordship. One cannot honestly call on a dead savior and so acknowledging His resurrection returns us to the thought that He was sinless in His life and death. Peter explains this in his great discourse at Pentecost in Acts 2 –

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— ²³ Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; ²⁴ whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.” Acts 2:22-24 

Peter says, it was “not possible” that death should hold Jesus because He is without sin, and death is the penalty for sin. To ensure we don’t miss the point, immediately before and after stating this, Peter turned to Scripture and spoke of the Lord (Yehovah) in a way which implied that Jesus is Yehovah.

Therefore, calling on Jesus is calling on Yehovah, but the reciprocal is not necessarily true. If one accepts the premise that Yehovah of the Old Testament is realized in Jesus of the New, then he has rightly called on the name of the Lord.

However, if such people stubbornly refuse to see what God has done through Jesus, fulfilling the Old Testament pictures related to Yehovah which pointed to Him, then they have not called on the Lord Jesus, meaning Yehovah. It is an important point which should not be missed.

And so, this belief in God’s raising Jesus from the dead is the crucial key to understanding His Personhood. It is a volitional act of the free-will, which itself is a gift of God.

Faith isn’t something which can be earned; it is something which is received from God and then exercised by man. This doesn’t mean God grants us the faith to believe and that we will then believe. It means that God grants us the faith to believe and we may believe.

This is no different than God granting us the ability to accomplish mathematical skills. We may choose to use this ability or not. Maybe a better example would be the ability to swim. Swimming is possible for any normally constructed person, but it does take a step of faith to actually exercise the ability.

The ability is given by God, but it doesn’t mean that the choice will be exercised. Faith is not earned, it is received, and then it must be put into practice. Once the faith is properly applied, “you will be saved.”

This follows through with the very idea of belief. There are different meanings to the word “believe.” One can know that Christians say Jesus is God, fully comprehending what that means, and simply not believe it is true. Jehovah’s Witnesses do this all the time.

Or, one can believe that Jesus is God, and not believe in Jesus as God – in other words, submit to that fact. A person could say, “I have done the study and I truly believe that the gospel is true, but I just don’t accept it for me. I want nothing to do with Jesus.”

Or, one can hear the word, believe it is true, and by faith appropriate that truth for himself. The difference between the second two comes down to willingness to believe and confess, as Paul says is necessary in Romans 10:9, 10. John gives us a case of exactly this difference in John 12 –

“Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; ⁴³ for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” John 12:42, 43

John uses the same word that Paul uses in Romans 10. Therefore, the confession is not a work, but a yielding to God. Without the confession, the grace of God cannot be appropriated, because the faith has not truly been exercised. 

But this process has nothing to do with the MacArthur false gospel of making Jesus Lord, meaning “Master,” of one’s life and submitting to His sovereign authority. That is a step outside of the bounds of the one, true, and simple gospel of salvation by grace through faith.

This is why the term “easy-believeism” is such an offense. It is God who reads the heart. But proponents of MacArthur’s false gospel arrogantly place themselves in His place and head right back to the Roman Catholic model by indicating that you have to prove your faith (which God has accepted) to them. God reads the heart, and our submission to Christ will be in accord with our life after coming to Christ – whatever that life may be. The rewards and losses will be ours alone. But those things have nothing to do with the reception of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our obedience to Christ, after being saved, has nothing to do with the salvation that is provided. A wife may submit to her husband, or she may not. And indeed, every wife on this planet does so differently. But the wife is no less a wife based on her submission. She is a wife based on the proclamation made between the two. The categories are not to be mixed.

These two points of faulty theology, Ray Comfort’s “The Way of the Master,” and John MacArthur’s “Lordship Salvation,” are but two of the many faulty doctrines which claim they believe in Sola Fide and Sola Gratia, but which belie that confession through confused theology.

Turning from sin, and submission to Christ as Lord, are both precepts which are found in the epistles, but they are not conditions for salvation. Rather, they are precepts which should, but do not naturally, stem from salvation.

Those things fall under an entirely different category of doctrine – that of rewards and losses. Those are explained, in particular, in 1 Corinthians 3 and 2 Corinthians 5. In keeping our categorical boxes straight, we will avoid the error that these men of God fell into.

In future sermons, we will expand on something that was stated here today concerning the possibility or impossibility of one losing his salvation. The question is, “Is salvation eternal, or can one lose his salvation?” The answer is obvious, but it is one which is denied by countless strange teachings which normally arise by the simple mistake of taking verses out of their intended context.

Having said that, and to prepare you for our sermon next week on predestination and election, and then a coming sermon on security in salvation, we can at least say that the doctrine ties necessarily into what we have talked about today – that of salvation being of grace alone through faith alone. Why is that?

It is because if a person can lose his salvation, it is obviously not because of something God has done. He has sent Christ, He has provided the salvation, and it is offered freely, as a gift of grace. As grace is unmerited favor, then anything added to that cannot be considered grace.

Therefore, as losing one’s salvation cannot be because of something God has done, then it is something that the saved man has done. And if the man must do something to keep being saved, then he – by default – had to do something to be saved – which takes us right back to Ray Comfort and John MacArthur and their false-gospels. Therefore, to teach that one can lose his salvation is a denial of salvation by grace through faith.

In fact, it is the ultimate slap in God’s face. God sent His Son to die for all sins of man – past, present, and future. It must be so because God is outside of time. His decrees are sovereign and when they are made, they stand. To say that one must do some work to be saved or to keep being saved is to say that what God did was insufficient to save at all.

Let us never be found in such an unholy and pridefully blasphemous position in our walk before the Lord our God. Rather, let us have faith and trust in the grace of God for our salvation, and let us hold fast to the truth of Scripture, even if it means we may lose friends or family in the process.

It is better to stand on right doctrine, than to listen to the ear-tickling but false gospels which permeate society, and which call us away from the magnificence of what God has done for us through the giving of His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Closing Verse: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ⁵ having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.” Ephesians 1:3-6

Next Week: God’s Predestination and Election in Christ (8^th Doctrine Sermon)

Jesus Christ, The God-Man, Part III
God’s Atoning Sacrifice for Sin

Read Leviticus 16. If you missed the sermons that covered this passage in Leviticus 16, it would be of great benefit to you to see how Christ Jesus fulfilled every single detail of the feast in His work leading up to and culminating in the cross. Today, we will learn about what that means for us as His people.

We have learned from the previous two sermons that Jesus Christ is both fully human and fully God. In His humanity, He is uncreated except as is incidental to the initial act of creation. His humanity descends from Adam, through Abraham, through David, etc.

Of His humanity, Paul says in Colossians 1 that in Christ Jesus “we have redemption through His blood.” He also says that He is “the firstborn from the dead.” It is Sunday, and not normally a day to take a test, but let’s try it anyway –

1) Does God have blood? No.
2) Can God die? No.

See you get an A+ already. As Jesus Christ’s earthly body had blood, something which is created, and as Jesus Christ died, something that cannot happen to God, then Jesus Christ is…? Yes, correct. He is a human. In theology 1 + 1 will always equal 2.

In His deity, Paul states in Colossians 1 that “He is the image of the invisible God.” Also, that “by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on the earth.” Further that “He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”

Logically, thinking through these few words from Paul, it is perfectly evident that Jesus Christ is God. The Greek word translated as “image” signifies a mirror-like representation. It is a direct correspondence to something.

The meaning then is that Jesus Christ is the supreme expression of God. As God is infinite, and as Jesus Christ is the supreme expression of an infinite, then He must be God, because only God is an infinite.

Further, 1) if He existed before all things, and all things other than God are created, then He is God; 2) as He is the Creator of all things, then He is God, and 3) as all things continue to be sustained and held together by Him, then He is God. 1 + 1 will always equal 2 in proper theology.

Jesus Christ is fully human and yet He is fully God, nothing less. Thus, Jesus is the God-Man. He is not God who is a finite human – a logical contradiction. Instead, He is a human who is also God – two natures which never overlap, but in which there is no separation.

For fallen man, there is a reason why Christ, the God-Man, had to come. That reason branches out in both directions. His humanity is necessary for man’s atonement, but His deity is also necessary for man’s atonement.

Only with an understanding of this dual nature of Jesus Christ, can what He came to do be fully understood. Understanding this, at least in a limited way, will be our goal today.

Text Verse: “For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, ²⁰ and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

²¹ And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled ²² in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.” Colossians 1:19-22

After Paul proclaimed both Christ’s humanity and His deity, he speaks of reconciliation and peace instead of alienation. He says that this came about “through the blood of His cross.” The implication is that without the blood, there would be no reconciliation, but rather enmity. And there would be no peace, but rather there would be strife.

What Paul describes, then, is the process of atonement. The word “atonement,” in its simplest form signifies “a covering.” It comes from the Hebrew verb kaphar, which means exactly that.  For example, the first of its 104 occurrences is found in Genesis 6:1 –

“Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.”

A very high stress is placed upon this word in Leviticus, and in particular in Leviticus 16 which details the Day of Atonement which occurred every year in Israel. In a covering, there is a pacifying action, and in that there is realized a satisfaction, or propitiation.

In this, one can see that something is exposed, and it is an offence. In covering that which is exposed, the one who is offended is pacified, and there is a return to a propitious (let us say a “happy”) relationship. It is a favorable, benevolent relationship which is realized.

Today we will look into the atonement of man’s sin, and why it was needed. We will also look into how that is accomplished by God, and why it could only be through Jesus Christ who is the God-Man. It could not have come about without Christ being both God and Man. That is what the Bible teaches, and that is what we shall see revealed today.

The biblical doctrine known as “Atonement” is a marvelous part of God’s superior word. And so, let us turn to that word once again, and may God speak to us through His word today, and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. The Offering and the Place of Offering

The first implied atonement, or covering, found in the Bible – though that term is not used – is seen in Genesis 3. The man and his wife offended God. The harmony which existed was destroyed, and a curse came upon them.

It says in that account that even before the curse came, however, that the man and the woman realized their transgression, and their fallen state. This is seen with the words, “and they knew they were naked.” In order to hide their nakedness, it says –

“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.” Genesis 3:7

A knowledge they previously lacked now belonged to them. They were unashamed, and suddenly they were ashamed. To correct the matter, they covered themselves. But the record is specific. They didn’t just use leaves to do so. They used t’enah, or fig leaves.

From this point on, the fig takes on a particular meaning in Scripture based on what is seen here. The fig signifies a spiritual connection to God, or the lack of it. This is seen, for example, in the words of Jesus in Mark 11 –

“Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. ¹³ And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴ In response Jesus said to it, ‘Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.’” Mark 11:12-14

Jesus was making a theological point concerning the place where He had left the day before, and where He immediately returned to the next day – the temple. Jesus’ cursing of the fig tree was a parable of the ending of the temple rites and the law as God’s means of restoration with Him. The spiritual connection of the law was to be severed.

He was taking us back to Eden. The man and the woman had tried to make a spiritual reconnection through the leaves of the fig to what they had lost, but it was too late. God rejected that, He cursed the serpent, the woman, and the man. Death entered the world through the act, and then came the judgment.

The spiritual reconnection could not come through their efforts. The fig leaves were insufficient to restore what had been lost. But while standing there, covered in their own unsuitable works, the Lord spoke out words of promise via His curse upon the serpent –

“And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.” Genesis 3:15

The new master of the realm, the serpent, would be defeated through the Seed of the woman. It is absolutely certain that this is a promise of the coming Messiah. The man and his woman stood there, dead in their sin and destined to die in their bodies. The Lord had just said to the man that he would return to the dust from which he had been taken, but the promise of life, even from their state of death, was made.

We know this because immediately after the pronounced curse upon the man, the very next words say, “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living” (Genesis 3:20).

The man, though now spiritually dead, and destined to die – meaning he lived in a body of death, now named the woman he had been given – Khavah, or “Life.” Though they stood before the Lord dead, he had believed the promise that the author of death would be destroyed. If death was destroyed, life would come. The naming of the woman “Life” was an act of faith, and in that act, a covering was given –

“Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.” Genesis 3:21

Something died in order to cover their shame. Blood was shed, and it was not done so by the man. Rather, it was the Lord who did it, and thus it was an act of grace. Further, it was the Lord who clothed them – He provided the covering. There was no active participation on their part. They simply received what the Lord had provided. This is what the words indicate.

In only a few verses of the first chapters of the Bible, the entire basis and process for the redemption of mankind is given. The theology of what is presented in the Genesis 3 narrative will never be departed from.

Man fell; man is fallen; man cannot correct the matter; the Lord will intervene; the Lord – through His grace – will accomplish the necessary sacrifice; the Lord will provide the necessary covering for restoration with that sacrifice; and it will be based on a simple act of faith by the man. Everything in Scripture after this point will be based on that notion, and it will support that typology. Atonement is wholly an act of the Lord.

The atonement mentioned concerning sin, such as that on the Leviticus 16 Day of Atonement, is simply the word kaphar, or atonement. However, in order to be a covering, something needs to be covered. That is where the kapporeth, or mercy-seat, comes in.

The kapporeth is literally the propitiatory, or place of propitiation. That word is from the same as kopher or, the price of a life – meaning a ransom. Both words are derived from kaphar, or atonement. Thus, the verb kaphar is what covers the kapporeth, or place of propitiation.

To understand the significance of this place of propitiation, meaning the typology of its construction, what it is made of, and so on, a full study of the subject is found in our sermons of Exodus which detail the construction of the sanctuary of the Lord, and which includes all of the implements found within the sanctuary.

To understand the significance of the covering itself, meaning the sacrificial offerings, their blood for atonement, and so on, a detailed study of the subject is found in our sermons of Leviticus and Numbers which detail these things minutely.

God laid out every detail of what He was going to do in Christ Jesus in advance – showing through types and representations – so that nothing which occurred when He came should have been a surprise. The theology surrounding His work is detailed and complicated, but the concepts which they detail are simple enough to see and understand on a very basic level.

This is so much the case that the heart of what He accomplished is summed up in what is known as “the gospel.” All of the many books, chapters, and verses, all of the theology found in them, and all of the typology and imagery used in them, is summed up in the following words of Paul to those at Corinth –

“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, ² by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
³ For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

In its most basic sense, without even mentioning the words grace, mercy, atonement, propitiation, substitution, expiation, or a hundred other theological terms, all of those things are summed up, and can be grasped, through this simple gospel message. And that gospel message, given by Paul, and which all of the apostles also preached (1 Corinthians 15:11), is then summed up in one verse from the gospel of John –

^“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

If one can understand that simple sentence, he can then grasp Paul’s fuller explanation of it in regard to the gospel. The mind grasps what God has done, and in that grasping – if faith to accept that message is exercised – atonement is provided, and salvation is secured. How can this be? It is because it follows the pattern given all the way back in Genesis 3. Once again –

^“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

1) The Initiator of the process is God. Salvation is of the Lord. 2) The offering is a Gift – God gave. 3) The recipient of the Gift is the world. 4) The beneficiary of it is general and yet exclusive – whoever. 5)  However, it is all-inclusive of that exclusive group (none should perish). 6) And, those who are included are so included for one reason… they believe. 7) The action is fully sufficient and eternal in its effect – none should perish but have everlasting life.

Paul’s simple gospel further explains Jesus’ statement. Christ died. God’s giving of His Son was not only as a living being, but as a being who would die. He was buried. Christ did not die and then quickly reanimate, as if he were given CPR. He was truly dead, and His life was completely extinguished.

He entered the realm of the dead and remained there long enough to satisfy all doubt that He was truly dead. But after that, He rose again the third day. Death could not hold Him. What Jesus proclaimed in John 3:16 is magnificently explained in 1 Corinthians 15. Summing up all of the theology of what God would do.

We get it, even without further explanation. This is so much the case that children who are just learning to speak understand it. And it is understood in every language and culture that it is presented. It is grasped by the humble and by the proud. It is perceived by the idiot and by the scholar. We get it.

But what is the theology behind that simplicity that we intuitively get? What does the gospel encompass? In regard to atonement, it means that Christ Jesus is both that which atones, and He is the place of the atonement.

In regard to Christianity, atonement refers to the need for a kaphar, or covering for our fallen state. In the reception of this covering, reconciliation between sinful man and the holy God is effected. This reconciliation is possible through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. His blood, which is shed, is our kaphar, our atonement.

That shed blood of atonement is what then provides the propitiation. The Greek word used to explain this is hilasmós. It is a noun defined as “propitiation” It is an offering to appease or satisfy an angry, offended party. God is that offended party, and He is angry at man’s sin.

This word, hilasmós, is only used twice in Scripture. Both times it speaks of Christ’s atoning blood that appeases God’s wrath in regard to that sin –

“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. ² And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” 1 John 2:1, 2

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:10

Christ is the actual point of propitiation, but more, it is because of His death that this is so. Another noun, hilastérion, which is also found only twice in Scripture explains this. The word means “a sin offering.” It is that by which the wrath of the angry God is appeased.

In type, it was the covering of the ark which was sprinkled with the atoning blood on the Day of Atonement. Its two uses are found in Romans and Hebrews –

“But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, ²² even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, ²⁶ to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:21-26

“For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; ³ and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, ⁴ which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; ⁵ and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.” Hebrews 9:2-5

As can be seen with the use of these two Greek words, hilasmós and hilastérion, which equate directly to the Hebrew words kaphar and kapporeth – and as we have already noted – Christ Jesus is both that which atones, and He is the place of the atonement.

But this only takes us so far. In our minds, when we receive the gospel, we are making a mental assent that God has done this thing, and that is then received by us. But Paul speaks of “another Jesus,” implying a false Jesus, in 2 Corinthians 11:4 –

“For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!”

He further speaks of a “different gospel” in Galatians 1 –

“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, ⁷ which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. ⁹ As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” Galatians 1:6-9

One speaks of a false Jesus, meaning a Jesus who is ineffective in atoning for man’s sin. The other speaks of a false gospel, meaning that what is presented cannot save. Together, these call out for a Jesus who is both truly God and truly Man, and for a salvation which comes from God alone.

An offering for sin to restore the peace
I come to petition my God at His holy altar
Until I do, the enmity will never cease
But knowing He will forgive, in this I will not falter 

He the holy altar, and He is the Door and the Tent
Christ the Lord is slain; His life ebbs away
In that exchange, God’s wrath is spent
Harmony is restored, and has come a new Day 

Innocent and pure, no fault of His own
The death truly touches my heart
But in this exchange, I am clearly shown
That only through death, can there be a new start

Thank God that Another has died in my place
In His death I can again look upon God’s face

II. Why the God-Man?

Why was it necessary for Christ to be a human in order to atone for man’s sin? In a previous sermon, two weeks ago, it was fully established that Jesus Christ is fully human. He wasn’t created as a human in Mary’s womb. Rather, He is fully human because Mary is fully human.

From her, He received all of the genetic information of His humanity – meaning all of that which came from Adam and those who descended from him, and which then was found in Mary.

This genetic information includes all of His human characteristics, including the knowledge of good and evil, human weakness, skin color, and on and on – just as any human possesses because of being born into a particular genealogy. This was necessary for reasons explained by the author of Hebrews –

“Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. ¹⁶ For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. ¹⁷ Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” Hebrews 2:14-18

The author of Hebrews shows that there must be a necessary connection between the Christ and His people. An angel wouldn’t satisfy, nor would an animal. Further, a human body, created in Mary’s womb without any connection to her humanity would mean He was not made like His brethren in all ways.

The only thing Christ did not possess that we as humans possess is inherited sin – something which comes via the human father. The different categories exclude the possibility that the Christ would be anything other than a human being, descended from Mary, and God being His Father.

In this, the author uses the verb hilaskomai, or to make propitiation, to show that what Christ did in the granting of God’s mercy necessitated that a human being be the means of accomplishing the act of atonement. In His atonement, He made propitiation for the people’s sins.

In his defense of this, he will later – in Chapter 10 – demonstrate further why this was necessary. But before going there, one must go back to the law itself. The law was given to Israel as the standard which God expected for man. In the doing of the law, man could be expected to live. God says as much, explicitly, in Leviticus 18 –

“You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.” Leviticus 18:5

In essence, God told His people, all descended from Adam, that if they did the things of the law, they would live. “This is My standard. In meeting every precept, and in failing in none of them, you shall live.” In failing to meet the things of the law, life would not come.

However, within the law itself, there was given the provision for forgiveness of sin committed under the law through the sacrificial system. This system was highlighted by the annual Day of Atonement. The implication was that atonement was needed because the law could not be met. So obvious was this, that the Lord made it explicit in Leviticus 23 –

“And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. ²⁹ For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. ³⁰ And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people.” Leviticus 23:28-30

“You shall observe this day, and if you do not, your life is forfeit.” Atonement was required because the people needed atonement. What is still implied, but which is obvious, is that none had done the things of the law. God was angry at their sin, and they needed their sins covered over. With that understanding, Chapter 10 of Hebrews explains why only a man could actually atone for the sins of the people –

“For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. ² For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. ³ But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. ⁴ For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.” Hebrews 10:1-4

First, the provisions of the law could not take away sin. They were a temporary, annual reminder to the people of this fact. And more, the reminder was that they were, in fact, under law. But it is the law which brought about the people’s infractions. If there was no law, then there would be no law to break.

Therefore, in order to atone for the sins of the people, there would need to be a Man to free them from the law. But more, there would need to be a Man without sin to do so. Otherwise, such a man with sin could not atone for his own sin, much less someone else’s. But even more, there would need to be a Man, born under the law, who was also without sin, to do so. That is explained by Paul in Galatians –

“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” Galatians 4:4, 5

In order to atone for sin under the law, the Man who did so would have to be born under the law. Otherwise, He could not be considered an acceptable atonement, nor a suitable place for atonement. This is because the sacrifices of the law are given according to the law, and yet they did not actually take away sin.

To resolve this, only someone coming from under the law, but who had no sin prior to, or during His time under the law, could sufficiently and truly atone for sin. The author of Hebrews explains that this Someone is Christ Jesus –

Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:
“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
But a body You have prepared for Me.
⁶ In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
You had no pleasure.
⁷ Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—
In the volume of the book it is written of Me—
To do Your will, O God.’ ”

⁸ Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), ⁹ then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. ¹⁰ By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Hebrews 10:5-10

Paul says that the human Christ was born under the law to redeem those who were under the law. The author of Hebrews says that this is done by taking away the law which came through the Mosaic Covenant. The Mosaic Covenant is taken away in order to establish the New Covenant – the Christ covenant.

This could only come about through a Man, it could only come about through a Man born under the law, and it could only come about through a sinless Man. And yet, He must be a Man who was born under a law that could not take away sin, meaning He must have been born without sin. And further, He must be a Man who lived without sinning under that same law.

And that premise then leads to the second half of the equation. Why was it necessary for Christ to be fully God in order to atone for man’s sin? In the sermon last week, it was altogether established that Jesus Christ is fully God. Of this, and understanding what we went over, it is perfectly clear to any who are simply willing to check.

But why was this necessary? The answer follows logically with what we just deduced. A Man with sin could not atone for the sins of another. Rather, he too would need atonement. But the Bible, both implicitly and explicitly, teaches that man has inherited sin. The sin of Adam transfers to all of Adam’s seed. This is stated explicitly by David –

“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.” Psalm 51:5

It is also taught explicitly by Paul –

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— ¹³ (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.” Romans 5:12, 13

So, sin entered through Adam, and all are in Adam. But what about Aaron the high priest? When he and his sons were ordained, didn’t the sacrifice for their sins make them sinless before God? Couldn’t Aaron just have taken one of his four sons, sacrificed him, and been done with all of the sin of the world from that point on? Their ordination is detailed in Leviticus 8. In that ordination, they are clearly presented as having sacrificed for their own sins.

The law was established, and the men who were to be ordained as priests brought a sacrifice for their sins. This would then make them acceptable to sacrifice for the people of Israel. Once their sins were dealt with, why could they not be an acceptable atonement for the sins of the people?

The answer is the same as for the people. The blood of bulls and goats can never take away sin. The proof of this is found in the verse which immediately follows God’s acceptance of the Levitical priesthood which was in Leviticus 9:24. In the following verses, Leviticus 10:1, 2 – we read this –

“Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. ² So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.” Leviticus 10:1, 2

Nadab and Abihu were not made perfect, nor did they remain perfect. Instead, they died in sin. At the end of that chapter, Moses became angry with Aaron and his remaining two sons because they did not eat the sin offering of the people, which was required under the law so that they could bear the guilt of the congregation.

Aaron’s reply to him was, “If I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been accepted in the sight of the Lord?” (Leviticus 10:19).

The answer to his question is obvious, “No.” If the sin offering and the burnt offerings which were intended to take care of the sins of the priests, before they tended to the sins of the congregation, were tainted by what occurred, thus meaning they – even though priests – were also tainted, then how could they take on the sin of the people in order to purify them? Aaron’s logic was impeccable, and it revealed, right at the beginning of the law, how vastly inferior this priesthood is to that of Christ – infinitely so.

Understanding this brings us to understanding the need for Christ’s deity. It has been established that Christ had to be a human in order to save the people. However, if He was only a human, He would bear Adam’s sin.

If he were created as a human, as one person we cited had said in a previous sermon, he would have lacked the experiential knowledge of good and evil necessary to deal with man’s sin until he gained such knowledge. But that – as we saw in the Genesis account – comes by law. Only by an infraction of the law did man acquire that knowledge.

That knowledge, which was obtained by Adam, was passed on to Christ, but the guilt of it was not. This is, as we saw in the sermon on Christ’s humanity, because sin travels from father to son. But Christ had no human father. Rather, His Father is God.

As all things reproduce after their own kind, we have a human Man, born of a human woman, and born without sin – because He had no human Father. And yet, He possesses the knowledge of good and evil.

At the same time, we have the incarnation of God in Christ because He is begotten of the Father. He is the God-Man. Without the Deity of Christ, sin would have been involved in the picture, and atonement for man could never have taken place.

But with the Deity of Christ, we have a perfect man, born under the law. Thus, He required no sacrifice for sin, as Aaron did. He also lived under the law without sinning, and thus He needed no sacrifice for sins, as Aaron did. And He died under the law having no sin.

And thus, He was the acceptable offering for sin, and the acceptable place of offering for sin. He is both the hilasmós, or offering, and he is the hilastérion, or mercy-seat – meaning the place of offering. This is explained by the author of Hebrews –

Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. ²⁴ But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. ²⁵ Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. ²⁶ For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; ²⁷ who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever. Hebrews 7:23-28

These things are both logical and expected based on the simple gospel given to us by Paul earlier. We may not think all of this theology through when we accept the gospel of our salvation, but all of it is implied. But what is more, is that the Deity of Christ is not only implied in these truths, it is proven because of them.

Christ Jesus died for sins, Christ Jesus was buried in His death. But that was not the end of the story. Christ Jesus rose again (Hallelujah!), proving that He had no sin. If He did have sin, He would have remained in the grave. But He did not. He rose. Concerning death, Peter says in Acts 2 that “it was not possible that He should be held by it.”

It could only be true if He was without sin, and being without sin, it was impossible that it could be otherwise. Thus, the Deity of Christ is first, an absolute necessity for our atonement, and secondly, absolutely proven through His resurrection.

Understanding this, it still has to be noted, to sufficiently explain God’s process of atonement, that Jesus Christ actually did die. We must remember that Christ is both the propitiation for sin, and He is the place of propitiation for sin.

His blood was given to cover our sin, but our sin was placed upon the place of propitiation – God’s Mercy Seat. In other words, Christ truly did die, and Christ truly did die for sin. But Christ did not die in sin. Rather, His death was as a substitutionary death for our sin.

In this, and because we understand that He is God’s Mercy Seat, we can then fully appreciate what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5 –

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

Christ became our sin and took our judgment upon Himself. In exchange, He grants us God’s righteousness, because being fully God, He is the possessor of the righteousness of God.

Christ redeemed us from the law, we stand justified through Christ’s fulfilling of the law, we are granted the righteousness of God in Christ, and we overcome the world and the power of the devil through the actions of our Lord. John explains this in his first epistle –

“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. ⁵ Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” 1 John 5:4, 5

Earlier, we spoke of the shame which Adam and Eve experienced at the fall, and their useless attempts to cover that shame with t’enah, or fig leaves. The covering was insufficient, and the guilt remained. They attempted to work their way back into a right spiritual relationship with God, but they failed to do so.

After that, Adam demonstrated faith, and in his act of faith, God covered his two wayward children, setting the example of atonement and redemption which has never been deviated from throughout the entire body of Scripture.

John confirms that the covering of man is externally granted. It is obtained by being born of God. In that, one overcomes the world. It is through the work of God alone, and it is appropriated by us through an act of faith – nothing more. And in exchange for our shame and nakedness, or for any of our own futile attempts to cover our souls, when we demonstrate faith in what God has done, He carefully tends to us –

“He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” Revelation 3:5

Who is he that overcomes? It is the one who trusts in what God has done through Jesus Christ – that He is the Son of God. And what does God do for you in that act? He grants you white garments of righteousness – His own righteousness – in place of your sin.

There is a true gospel, and there is the true Jesus, the Christ of God. The true gospel is that God has done all that is necessary to save the human soul and that we exclude ourselves from God’s promise when we attempt to earn His favor through the law.

The true Christ is Jesus who is both fully Man and fully God. As Jesus is God’s only begotten Son, Jesus is the only Messiah, and He is the only path for atonement, for justification, for sanctification, and for glorification before God. He is our both our propitiation and our place of propitiation. He is JESUS!

Call on Christ, receive God’s offer of pardon, and have your sins atoned for through His precious blood – to the glory of God the Father.

Closing Verse: ^“For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. ¹⁰ For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. ¹¹ And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.” Romans 5:6-11

 

Jesus Christ, The God-Man
Part II – His Deity

“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. ¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” Revelation 22:12, 13

Theology really matters, and it is of prime importance in the life of human beings. Theology simply signifies the study of God and of religious belief which is in line with that.

What is God like, what are His expectations for man, and so on are truly important subjects because if one is wrong in his theology, and there are certain expectations of a person in order to have a right relationship with God, then that relationship is either in question or nonexistent.

There are those who hold to the Law of Moses for their justification, and there are true Christians who have accepted the grace found in Jesus Christ. Both believe in the same God, but they do not accept the same amount of revelation that this God has provided concerning Himself. That further revelation of Himself, meaning in what Jesus accomplished for us, will make all of the difference in one’s eternity. Be assured of that.

Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and others claim they believe in the same God, but they reject the theology which says that God has so revealed Himself in the Person of Jesus, or that what is revealed of Him is different based on the very nature of His deity. It isn’t a matter of further revelation. Rather, it is a denial of what is considered orthodox.

But the central point of Christian theology is that Jesus Christ is God. He is the incarnate word of God. It is not that He is not God, or that He is either one of many gods, or He is a lesser god. Rather, He is the Pantokrator – the Almighty. To believe otherwise, then, is to believe in a false Jesus. And to believe in a false Jesus is to believe in a false gospel. Paul says as much, first in 2 Corinthians 11 and then in Galatians 1 –

“But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. ⁴ For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!” 2 Corinthians 11:3, 4

&

“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, ⁷ which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. ⁹ As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” Galatians 1:6-9

To accept another Jesus is to accept another gospel. And to accept another gospel is to reject the truth of God in Christ. Without the Savior, there is no salvation. Theology really matters.

Text Verse: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. ¹⁸ And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. ¹⁹ For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, ²⁰ and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.” Colossians 1:15-20

A denial of the deity of Jesus Christ, and that of the Holy Spirit, can be bafflingly complex. I say this because if some from the Jehovah’s Witnesses come to your door and starts talking, unless you know the Bible, and your theology is sound, they can twist what little you know to the point where you aren’t sure what you believe.

Getting off on a single point of doctrine, especially a major point of doctrine, will end in a complete unraveling of sound theology. Either that, or one will have a single error with a logical contradiction to that one error.

This is normally found in denominational differences and generally occurs on points which are not salvific, or saving, in nature. But the deity of Christ is not a minor point of doctrine. It is fundamental and it is principle. To be wrong on this point will result in a completely convoluted hermeneutic, or method of interpretation. To demonstrate this, we’ll take the Jehovah’s Witnesses as an example.

They deny the deity of Jesus Christ and teach that He is a created being. From that one incorrect point, their entire biblical hermeneutic becomes flawed. And it all starts with that one premise – Jesus Christ is not God. In speaking on their doctrine, the International Bible Society says –

“…Furthermore, he is not only called ‘God’ (regardless of the issue concerning the translation of John 1:1), but also ‘Savior,’ ‘Lord,’ ‘Redeemer,’ ‘God with us,’ and ‘Creator.’ We can pray to him; he helps us; he lives in us; he gave up himself for us; he forgives our sins; he receives worship – all things, which in the Old Testament are clearly within the jurisdiction and ability of ‘Jehovah.’  Yet in the face of all this, the doctrine of the Watchtower Society would have us believe that this One is some form of created being?  Frankly, not only is that incongruous, it is the worst form of blasphemy – relegating to a creature the attributes of Jehovah.”

As you can see from that one quote, translational differences arise, theological differences are held to, and a completely different gospel – because of the presentation of a completely different Jesus – is accepted. How can such a vast array of differences arise when the same source text is used? It is because of the spirit of antichrist.

Yes, that is exactly what John says of it as we will see as we progress through the sermon today. For now, understand that theology really matters, and that proper theology is obtained through a proper evaluation of God’s superior word. And so, let’s evaluate that word once again, and may God speak to us through His word today, and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Unto Us a Son is Given

To open our previous thought concerning the humanity of Christ, Isaiah 9:6 was cited, “For unto us a Child is born.” However, Isaiah continues the verse. He next says, “Unto us a Son is given.” It must have perplexed Isaiah, and indeed any who have read Isaiah’s words, as to what “a Son is given” must mean.

A child being born implies, and it even demands, that the child is a human being. The reference “us” demands this. But if “unto us” is speaking of humanity, and a Son is being given to humanity, it appears that this “Son” is coming from outside of humanity.

Suppose the object was a cake, and the statement was made referring to the Americans and the Germans. An American might say, “Unto us a cake is made.” It is obvious that the cake is an American cake – in all its tasty goodness. But the person speaking is also dealing with the Germans, and so he says, “Unto us the ingredients are given.”

The obvious meaning is that though the cake is made in America, and therefore it is an American cake, the ingredients have come from Germany. It is, therefore, German by nature. Oh! Das schmeckt sehr gut! This is the thought which must be considered in Isaiah’s words. There is a Child born – a human being. But there is a Son given. The subject of the first is a human; the subject of the second must be other than human.

This must be so, because the next verse says, “The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” If a Child being born embodies the idea of humanity, the idea of the giving of a Son must then imply the concept of deity because it is directly performed by Yehovah Sabaoth, or “Yehovah of Hosts.” Thus, when properly understood, it is God who gives the Son.

This might be a misunderstanding of the matter, and simply a play on words, but a description of this Child who is the Son is then given. Taken as a whole, Isaiah 9:6, 7 says –

“For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” Isaiah 9:6, 7

Some of the responsibilities, titles, and descriptions could be argued over as to their intent, but some of them assuredly cannot be. We will look at those and pass over the others for now.

First, He will be the Mighty God. How can that be? The Hebrew says el gibbor – “God mighty.” That is direct and to the point. This is even more so when considering that in the very next chapter of Isaiah, the same term, el gibbor, is given again –

“And it shall come to pass in that day
That the remnant of Israel,
And such as have escaped of the house of Jacob,
Will never again depend on him who defeated them,
But will depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
²¹ The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob,
To the Mighty God.” Isaiah 10:20, 21

There, it is speaking of Yehovah qedosh Yisrael, or Yehovah the Holy One of Israel. It would be unthinkable, literally unthinkable, for the Lord to place the only two uses in Scripture of el gibbor, or “mighty God,” only one chapter apart and expect His reader to consider one as deity and the other as some type of created being.

It would be the epitome of confused terminology and contradictory thinking. One refers to the coming Messiah, and one refers to Yehovah. Thus, the two are clearly identified as One. This is especially so when Isaiah is inspired to continue with his words by calling this One abiad, or “Everlasting Father.” It is a term unique to Scripture, and it is speaking of the Father of eternity; the possessor of time.

This Father of eternity, as with all of Isaiah’s descriptions as speaking of the coming Messiah, is not to be confused with God the Father. The title shows possession, not position. The father of the Hebrews is Abraham. He possesses the title even though he is dead and is no longer in the position. Thomas Edison is called the father of the lightbulb because he was the one who invented and developed it. He possessed the idea and then developed it.

Abiad, the Father of eternity, is the One who possesses time. He created it and He has mastery over it. This Child who was born, this Son who has been given, is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End; He is the First and the Last. There is no time that He did not exist and there is no time He will not exist. This is what the title means.

Further, Isaiah says that His government will be established, and it will continue from then on, even forever. David had come and gone. It was promised that one of his sons would establish his kingdom forever, but David’s forever kingdom is only in name, not in actual personal authority.

What Isaiah speaks of here is a government which will have an eternal authority, implying the One who will rule forever. Only One who is immortal could actually fulfill this. However, we again see the dual nature of this coming One.

He is the Everlasting Father, meaning uncreated and eternal, and yet, there is a point in which His throne is established and in which it continues on from. As the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this, one can – in hindsight – look back and see the incarnation of Christ clearly referred to here. He is God, and yet He is Man.

But could this simply be an exalted way of Isaiah speaking which is maybe poetic in nature? Could the Lord have used Isaiah’s unique style to convey to us something that we easily confuse, like the words of a poet who is speaking of one thing while forming words which seem to allude to another thing?

The answer is, “No.” This is not merely style conveyed by Isaiah. It is revelation transmitted from the Lord. This is perfectly certain when we read comparable words from Micah –

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old,
From everlasting.” Micah 5:2

Here we see words equivalent to those of Isaiah. A Ruler is prophesied to come, but this Ruler will obviously have a beginning. This is evident from the words that He would come forth out of a location. In this case, Bethlehem Ephrathah.

Because Bethlehem Ephrathah is a part of creation, it could not have existed into eternity past. The world is not eternal. It had a beginning. Bethlehem has a name, and it was identified as a location at some point after it came into existence at the creation.

However, and at the same time, the One who Micah prophesies about is coming forth from that location, but He has motsaah, or “goings forth,” which are miqedem, or “from the east.” It is an idiom meaning, from the absolute forepart. In other words, from eternity itself.

Just as – from man’s perspective – the sun rises from nowhere, so this Ruler would also come from the eternal past. There is no beginning to His coming. Instead, it simply is. The author then further defines this by saying mime olam, or “from the vanishing point,” meaning from the place where nothing is known of it.

The motsaah, or “goings forth” is a plural construct in the Hebrew. It signifies the eternal and continual generation of the Son from the Father. There is no time that it did not occur, and it shall occur for all eternity. Charles Ellicott says of this –

“The nativity of the governor of Israel is evidently contrasted with an eternal nativity, the depth of which mystery passes the comprehension of human intellect: it must be spiritually discerned.” Charles Ellicott

And this is true. Israel could not, and indeed still does not, discern this. The veil remains when the law is read. What the words here clearly imply is that because He was before the creation, He must be the Creator, because only the Creator can exist before that which is created.

But this misunderstanding is also one which goes beyond the Jewish sages, rabbis, and common folk who have overtly rejected Jesus as the Christ, or Messiah. It is one which is continued on by many who supposedly accept the coming of Christ in the Person of Jesus.

The denial of the deity of Jesus Christ is no less damning than the denial of His humanity. This is for several reasons. First, even from the Old Testament Scriptures, it is perfectly evident when compared to who Jesus is, what He accomplished, and what is written about Him that He is God.

Before His coming, the words could simply not be fully understood. But with His coming, they become as clear as crystal. Secondly, what is ascribed to Jesus after his coming – meaning by the writings of the apostles – is impossible to mistake when properly considered from the context of what is presented. The quote by the International Bible Society, which was cited earlier, sums that up very well.

What is said about Yehovah, or the Lord God, in the Old Testament is attributed directly and unambiguously to the Person of Jesus in the New. Only a fool, a heretic, or a lunatic would deny the obvious nature of what the New Testament proclaims.

To speak on the deity of Jesus Christ could go on – literally – for innumerable sermons. But all that is required is one. One does not need to provide all evidence to establish the truth of a matter. There is a point where the evidence is sufficient to do so, and then discovering all of the other such incidences can come as one matures in his understanding and study of Scripture.

This is what we have done since Genesis 1:1, and it is what we will continue to do as long as we travel through the pages of Scripture. For now, we will simply establish the fact that Jesus Christ is clearly presented as God in Scripture without feeling the necessity of crossing every “t” and dotting every “i.”

All rule and all authority in Him is found
The government will upon His shoulder rest
And from Him shall come a rule which will astound
The nations will be at peace, no longer distressed

The ink has flowed from the pen guided by my hand
But I cannot comprehend what the words say
These words are so very hard to understand
I pray the Lord reveal them to me some wondrous day

As mommy lay sleeping, exhausted from caring for the Boy
He tenderly watched over her just as He today watches over us
To be found in the Everlasting Father is eternal joy
This is the amazing splendor to be found in the Lord Jesus

II. Jesus Christ – the Eternal God

The denial of the deity of Jesus Christ is an ancient heresy, overtly dating back at least to the time of Arius in the third century. It is, however, alluded to by the apostles who penned out Scripture at times. John certainly had this exact heresy on his mind when he wrote these words –

“Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. ²³ Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” 1 John 2:22, 23

The words speak of the Father/Son relationship between the two. John is doing what he had already done throughout his gospel by connecting the two in the relationship of the Godhead. If the Father is God, which is clearly presented in Scripture, then the Son is also God. Both are God, and yet there is only one God.

Further, the very reason for the way the Genesis 1 record is made is to give us insights into what God would do in Christ. In Genesis 1, we read that the grass, the herb, the fruit tree, and the sea creatures and the living creatures of the land – indeed all species – reproduce after their own kind. When one thing generates an offspring, the offspring bears the same nature as that which generated it.

Why did God give such meticulous detail concerning this on that first page of Scripture? It was to alert us to Christ. When we are told that Jesus Christ is the only begotten of the Father, it is to let us know that God has begotten a Son, who is God. And because His mother is human, it is to convey to us that He is also a Man.

Despite being complex, the mystery of the Trinity is revealed in Scripture and it accurately explains the Godhead. It is the only teaching which aligns with a proper analysis of the Bible. The Person of Jesus Christ is the One who reveals the fullness of the Godhead to us and it is He who worked, on our behalf, to reconcile us to God.

And why did He do this? To destroy the works of the devil and to remove the stain of sin which we bear, and which keeps us from any relationship with the Father. It is Jesus and His cross which allows us this wonderful restoration. But, the work of salvation is – as Jonah clearly states – a work of the Lord. As he says, and as the Bible confirms, “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9).

If salvation is of the Lord, and if Jesus were simply a created being, then it really wouldn’t be of the Lord, except in an indirect and dubious manner. But this is what the Jehovah’s Witnesses and others claim.

To dispel this, and to show the utter folly of it, we will look at the work and the words of the Lord from the Old Testament, and then compare them to the work and words concerning Christ in the new. In this, we will form a basis for the certainty of the deity of Christ.

What will be presented will demonstrate that either the Bible is a completely convoluted book, filled with contradiction and error, or it is a book which is given with a main purpose of showing that God Himself entered into the stream of humanity in the Person of Jesus Christ.

To do this properly, even if it is already obvious to anyone who has read the Bible, we need to ensure that we understand who Yehovah, meaning the Lord of the Old Testament, is. In other words, “Is He God or not?” As obvious as that sounds, it is a necessary point of theology to determine. The first time Yehovah is mentioned in Scripture is –

“This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.” Genesis 2:4 

That seems clear enough. Yehovah Elohim, or “the Lord God,” made the heavens and the earth. It follows nicely after Genesis 1:1 –

b’reshit bara Elohim eth ha’shemayim v’eth ha’eretz
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1

However, as you can see, the word used in Genesis 1:1 is bara, or “create.” In Genesis 2:4, it is asah, or “made.” Are the two being used synonymously or not? Someone who wanted to simply argue the matter might do so. The Jehovah’s witnesses do exactly that with John 1:1. As there isn’t time here to argue foolishly, we will move on.

The third time Yehovah is mentioned is in Genesis 2:7 –

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7

That follows in a precise manner after Genesis 1–

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.’” Genesis 1:26, 27

It would be rather difficult to justify denying that these verses clearly identify Yehovah as not merely the Maker, but the Creator, and thus God. But we will cut to the chase, and simply go to Isaiah to establish this without any doubt at all –

“Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel,
And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
‘I am the First and I am the Last;
Besides Me there is no God.” Isaiah 44:6

The claim is made explicitly elsewhere as well, but this is clear. There is one God and He is Yehovah, the Lord. The Old Testament proclaims this truth both implicitly and explicitly so many times and in so many ways that it is impossible to be considered otherwise.

With that baseline established – that there is One God and that Yehovah is that One God – it is now our privilege to determine if Christ Jesus is that same Lord God. One must, obviously, hold the New Testament as Scripture in order to do this, but supposing that is so, then this is our set goal which lies ahead of us.

To do this, all we need to do is to provide a list of Old Testament references referring to Yehovah, and then place them side by side with New Testament references concerning Jesus, and then see what comes up. The list will be long, but not exhaustive. It is simply one which may help some poor soul with a family member lost in a cult to help him see the error of his ways.

Who did Isaiah 44:6 say is the Redeemer? The Lord was clear –

“Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel,
And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: Isaiah 44:6

But what does Scripture say about Christ Jesus? It is that…

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”). Galatians 3:13

Yehovah is the Redeemer, and yet Christ Jesus is the Redeemer. 1+1 here should equal 2 in your mind. What else did Isaiah 44:6 tell us about Yehovah? He said…

“Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel.”

There were lots of kings of Israel, but the context of what is said about Jesus in the New Testament is clear. His kingship is on a completely different level. This is seen, for example, in Nathanael’s words –

“Nathanael answered and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’” John 1:49

It was clearly understood that Jesus was not the “ruling king” of Israel at the time. Therefore, his words were proclaiming that Jesus is, in fact, Yehovah. The premise follows throughout the New Testament when speaking of God, the kingdom of God, Jesus, and so on. But is that all that we can find from Isaiah 44:6, or is there more? Well, Yehovah proclaims this –

‘I am the First and I am the Last;
Besides Me there is no God. Isaiah 44:6

And what does the New Testament proclaim? From the mouth of Christ Jesus Himself –

“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. ¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” Revelation 22:12, 13

Here, in one verse from Isaiah, there are at least five examples of Yehovah of the Old Testament bearing the same titles, positions, or responsibilities as those of Christ in the New. In your theology, 1+1 should equal 2. There are many more of these to be considered. This is said of Yehovah in Isaiah –

Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand,
And His arm shall rule for Him;
Behold, His reward is with Him,
And His work before Him. Isaiah 40:10

Christ claims explicitly that He is the One Isaiah prophesied about with these words –

“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me. Revelation 22:12

Yehovah again adamantly proclaims that He is the only God in Isaiah 46. In His words, He proclaims –

For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,
¹⁰ Declaring the end from the beginning, Isaiah 46:9, 10

But from the same passage as before in Revelation 22, Jesus also said –

“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. ¹³ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” Revelation 22:12, 13

The Lord, Yehovah, declares the end from the beginning only because He is the Beginning and the End. It is impossible to be otherwise. And yet Jesus claims that same position without any ambiguity.

In Isaiah 44, one of the titles that Yehovah proclaims of Himself is that of being the Rock. Indeed, he says that there is no other –

Do not fear, nor be afraid;
Have I not told you from that time, and declared it?
You are My witnesses.
Is there a God besides Me?
Indeed there is no other Rock;
I know not one.’” Isaiah 44:8

He was making an obvious allusion to the Rock in the wilderness from which the water flowed. It was something every Israelite would know and understand. And yet, Paul says this of Christ Jesus –

“…and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.” 1 Corinthians 10:4

Using similar terminology, the following is said concerning Yehovah Sabaoth, the Lord of Hosts –

The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow;
Let Him be your fear,
And let Him be your dread.
¹⁴ He will be as a sanctuary,
But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense
To both the houses of Israel, Isaiah 8:13, 14

But what do both Paul and Peter say concerning Christ Jesus in the New Testament? They are in agreement on this. First Paul when speaking of faith in Christ –

“As it is written:
‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense,
And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’” Romans 8:33

And Peter, he proclaims exactly the same message when speaking about Jesus. Thus, he equates Jesus with Yehovah –

Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient,
“The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone,”
⁸ and
“A stone of stumbling
And a rock of offense.” 1 Peter 2:7, 8

Either Paul and Peter were blasphemers, or they are rightly proclaiming that Yehovah has come in the flesh as Jesus Christ. But they don’t stop there. Yehovah adamantly proclaims that there is one, and only one, Savior, and that He is it –

I, even I, am the Lord,
And besides Me there is no savior. Isaiah 44:1

Paul then picks up on that and says the following about Jesus –

“…but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” 2 Timothy 1:10

That is one of numerous times that Christ Jesus is referred to as the Savior. And what is the honor that Israel’s only Savior will receive? Yehovah Himself tells us –

“I have sworn by Myself;
The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
And shall not return,
That to Me every knee shall bow,
Every tongue shall take an oath.” Isaiah 45:23

The Lord, Yehovah, makes that awesome and all-inclusive statement. There are no exceptions. If Jesus were not the Lord, it would include Him too. But what does Paul say in Romans 14? There can be no mistake –

“But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. ¹¹ For it is written:
‘As I live, says the Lord,
Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to God.’” Romans 14:10, 11

And again, Paul confirms what Scripture so faithfully testifies to in Philippians 2 –

…that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, Philippians 2:10

So adamant is Yehovah concerning this precept, meaning bowing before Him, that He also proclaims the following. We will bow before Him because of His glory. That is the purpose of His words. He says so explicitly twice in Isaiah –

I am the Lord, that is My name;
And My glory I will not give to another, Isaiah 42:8 (and 48:11)

But John and the other apostles then ascribe this same glory to Christ Jesus. So many times does this happen, that it would take all day to cite them all. But this one will suffice –

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 (and etc. many times).

Speaking of shepherding, this is said of the Lord in Isaiah 40:10, 11 –

“Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand,
And His arm shall rule for Him;
Behold, His reward is with Him,
And His work before Him.
¹¹ He will feed His flock like a shepherd;
He will gather the lambs with His arm,
And carry them in His bosom,
And gently lead those who are with young.” Isaiah 40:10, 11

What Isaiah says is comparable to David’s words of Psalm 23 when speaking of the Lord, Yehovah. There, he said, “The Lord is my shepherd.” And yet Jesus proclaims –

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. ¹² But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. ¹³ The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. ¹⁵ As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. ¹⁶ And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.” John 14:11-16

Either Jesus was a blasphemer, or He is the Lord, Yehovah. 1 plus 1 in theology always equals 2. From this, the apostles identify Jesus as the Great Shepherd (Hebrews 13:20) and the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4), again, clearly identifying Christ Jesus as Yehovah.

The words of the author of Hebrews both implicitly and explicitly demonstrate that Jesus is Yehovah. This is so clear and obvious that only the poorest of scholars could miss the significance of his intent. He cites a verse from the Old Testament which is applied to Yehovah, and then he says that the verse is speaking of Jesus. This occurs time and time again.

It is a pattern which, as we have seen, is repeated by Peter, John, and Paul again and again. Whereas Yehovah, the Lord, was the focus of all attention in the Old Testament, the title is never used in the New. Instead, Jesus is the focus of all attention, and the same verses, titles, positions, and analogies which are used concerning Yehovah are used concerning Jesus.

Though not nearly exhaustive, we have provided enough of them to demonstrate that the New Testament writers clearly and unambiguously identify Jesus Christ as the incarnate Yehovah – the Lord God.

As we saw in a previous sermon, but which we will repeat again to ensure your brain has received a new squiggle, even Luke – the great chronicler of the life of Christ Jesus – was very careful to note the deity of Christ throughout his epistle.

Following what He says here, and then carefully reading the rest of his gospel narrative, you will see how meticulous he was to ensure that no doubt of this particular point would arise –

“Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, ^39 ‘Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.’ And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.” Luke 8:38, 39

This wasn’t a slip of words, but rather it was a carefully placed note that Luke was proclaiming that Jesus is God. As you read through the gospels, make a note of such things. They appear constantly there as well as in the book of Acts and also in the epistles.

The authors of the New Testament proclaimed that Jesus is God because they believed – with all of their hearts – that Jesus is God.

Before we finish, and to qualify what I said a moment ago, the name Yehovah is never mentioned in the New Testament, but He is referred to from time to time with other words, such as kurios, when speaking of Him. The only instances of the divine name, Yehovah, being used in the New Testament are from translational insertions in some Bibles. But the name itself is never used in the original manuscripts.

Rather, Jesus is the focus of the New because He is the Lord God Almighty. To deny this fundamental principle of who He is, then, is to deny Him. The Father/Son relationship within the Godhead does not mean that one is God, and another is not God. Nor does it mean that one is the Lord God and another is a lesser god. Together with the Holy Spirit, they are One essence expressed in three individual Persons.

To summarize: What we have done is to first establish that Yehovah is God and that there is none other. From that logical steppingstone, we have then demonstrated that the position, attributes, titles, and authority of Yehovah belong to the Person of Jesus Christ.

The Bible is not contradictory, nor is it convoluted. It is clear, precise, and unambiguous in this matter. Therefore, there is no need to argue over the wording of John 1:1, nor of the other verses which are disputed by those who deny the deity of Christ. Those verses simply confirm that what they are proclaiming is in accord with what Scripture, on this larger level, already confirms.

One should not miss the forest for the trees. The trees can be, and indeed are, argued over. But the forest is one large proclamation of the Eternal God – Jesus Christ is Yehovah! Jesus Christ is Lord. And thus, shall our proclamation be, to the glory of God the Father.

From the previous sermon, we learned that Jesus is fully human. In His humanity, He is uncreated except as is incidental to the initial act of creation. His humanity descends from Adam, through Abraham, through David, etc.

In this sermon, we have learned that Jesus Christ is fully God, nothing less.

Thus, Jesus is the God-Man. He is not a finite human who is the infinite God – a logical contradiction. Rather He is a human who is also God – two natures which never overlap, but in which there is no separation. Next, we will look at the doctrine of atonement, and why this incarnation – this God-Man – was necessary for our atonement.

Only in understanding the nature of Jesus Christ, can what Christ came to do be fully understood. The simple gospel is, in fact, simple. But the substance behind it is amazingly complex. It requires great precision of thought in order to avoid heresy which then leads to a false Jesus and a false gospel.

Closing Verse: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, being in the form of God, did not consider it ^]robbery to be equal with God, ⁷ but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. ⁹ Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:5-11

Jesus Christ, The God-Man
Part I – His Humanity

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— ² the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— ³ that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. ⁴ And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.” 1 John 1:1-4

There are a host of views concerning the nature of the Person of Jesus Christ. Scholarly, and quite unscholarly, comments go back to the beginning of the Christian faith, and they go in every possible direction one could conceivably imagine.

It would be impossible to even touch upon every point of doctrine that has been developed over the centuries, and there really is no need to do so for a series on basic doctrine. What needs to be understood about Christ Jesus is that He is fully God, and that He is also fully Man.

Any departure from those two principle points is, by default, heretical. But how one gets to those points can also be a source of either very poor doctrine or even heresy. Care needs to be taken to explain these things without going off on a bad path.

As far as His humanity, there is no scriptural doubt about it. By the words of the prophets, by the typological pictures which anticipate Him, by His own words, and by the words of the apostles who came after Him, the humanity of Jesus Christ is an undeniable point of biblical doctrine.

But to make sure that we understand the nature of that manhood, we need to at least make a short review of Scripture, and then look over one or two views which are contrary to what is sound. Often, evaluating that which is incorrect can lead us to more rightly see what is correct.

In this sermon, as in other sermons to come, we will evaluate the doctrine of others, including some who are still alive today. To determine what is correct, one should determine what is error. To this day, we speak of the Arian heresy. That was named because of the unsound doctrine of someone named Arius.

Just because someone is alive, it does not mean that their doctrine cannot be called out. In fact, the opposite is true. Paul called out unsound teachers by name, such as in 2 Timothy 2:17. If I teach poor doctrine, or even heresy, that should be noted. If someone is going to step up to the pulpit, that person is – by default – expected to teach what is orthodox.

Text Verse: “He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” Isaiah 53:3

The Messiah was anticipated. What His role and work detailed was certainly debated, but Israel knew one thing for certain – He would be a human being. Andrew understood this and he excitedly proclaimed it to his brother, Simon Peter –

“He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). ⁴² And he brought him to Jesus.’” John 1:41

Even people not of Israel knew this would be the case. We learned this from a woman of Samaria –

“The woman said to Him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When He comes, He will tell us all things.’” John 4:25

There was no question in anyone’s mind at the time that the coming Messiah, or Christ, would be a human being. Scripture was clear, and the genealogies were perfectly understood that it was so. What the purpose of Christ’s humanity served is a different subject and for a different time.

The fact that He is a human, and how that came to be, is what needs to be detailed here today. It is a marvelous truth which is revealed in His Superior Word. And so, let us turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised. 

I. Jesus Christ – A Body Prepared

Isaiah 9:6 says, “For unto us a Child is born.” It is a confirmation of what was already anticipated, even since moments after the fall of man. A human being was promised who would be born into the world, and He would be unlike all other human beings. But He would, in fact, be a human being. The word was prophesied by the Lord to the serpent who had led humanity into the sin of disobedience –

“And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.” Genesis 3:15

The Lord God promised that One would come who would bruise the head of the serpent. From the details of Genesis 4, it is evident that Eve understood exactly what was meant. The naming of her first son Cain, and the exclamation she made concerning him, reveals that truth – qaniti ish eth Yehovah – “I have acquired a man with Yehovah.”

She anticipated that her child would be the One to take on the serpent and lead her back to the Garden of Delight that she had been expelled from. That is not a dubious inference, but rather it is a proclamation based on one thing alone – the promise spoken in Genesis 3:15 – Messiah would be the Seed of the woman.

At this point in the biblical narrative, all we know is that this One will be the Seed of the woman. Thus, as she rightly deduced, He would come from her, the mother of all living. Therefore, He would be a human being. Nothing else is yet explicit. However, the curious use of the words, her Seed, do leave unanswered questions.

The reason for this is that the Bible consistently speaks of the seed of man. It is through man that generations are noted and spoken of. The genealogical listings consistently refer to children being begotten of a father, and when a woman is introduced into a record, it is to clarify a matter, or resolve some sort of dilemma.

For example, the daughters of Zelophehad are referred to several times in the book of Numbers, and in Joshua and 1 Chronicles as well. In fact, great detail is given concerning them, but it is specifically because they are daughters of a man without sons that the specificity is given.

It is the line, or seed, of the male – and that alone – that bears the importance of the generational promises and inheritances. And so, to speak of the Seed of the woman should at least cause the reader to stop and ponder why the statement was given. One could not, until after the coming of Messiah, deduce the full import or implication of the term at this point.

For now, the Bible is focusing on His human nature – He will come from a human being, regardless of any other characteristics. Indeed, unto us a Child is born.

From this point, the fact that this One will be the Seed of the woman is carefully tucked away, as if a precious jewel which needs to be protected and cared for until it is needed again some future day when God so determines it.

In its place, or rather maybe, from a different perspective, the narrative now goes solely to the seed of man. With many stories interspersed throughout the narrative, it is the generations of Adam, the first man, that are highlighted. Genesis 5 gives the first notable genealogy – Adam, Seth, Enosh, Cainan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, and Noah.

They are ten names which detail the progression of the generations of man, from man to man. They state that one begets the next and then so on down the line. No women are listed, though some are incidentally mentioned for specific purposes, but which are not especially related to the genealogical records.

After Noah, the pattern continues. There is one main line which continues to feed the hungry belly of time, filling it up with one generation after another. Eventually, the line leads to the family of Abraham, of which a lot of detail is provided, and many names are mentioned.

At times, women are included in the narrative by name, such as Sarah and Rebekah. At others, they are referred to by family, such as the two daughters of Lot. But the focus of the lines is based on the male throughout the narrative, even if the lines of those people – including the women, such as the daughters of Lot – lead to the anticipated Messiah.

It is important, however, to stop with Abraham, and to highlight one of the chief aspects of his walk before the Lord in order to understand more about this coming Seed of the woman. God, in Genesis 17, says to Abraham –

“As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰ This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; ¹¹ and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. ¹² He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. ¹³ He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.” Genesis 17:8-14

The lines of man have been highlighted, and the Seed of the woman has also been referred to. But now, something new is introduced. The male organ, from which issues the seed of the man, is minutely discussed here and elsewhere from this point on.

One who is astute will at least question, “Why?” Couldn’t God have said to Abraham that he and his descendants should wear a certain hairstyle? Maybe shave their heads completely? Or, maybe wear a beard but no mustache? Couldn’t they have had a specific body mark, such as a tattoo or cutting in a conspicuous place?

Such things are found in cultures throughout the world. In fact, later in the narrative, there will be a group identified by their necks, the Anakim, first mentioned in Numbers 13. Either they have long necks, or they ornamented their necks in some obvious way, but they had a family identifier which was readily viewable to all.

However, Abraham has one that is secreted away, and it is also one which involves the very spot of the transmission of what begets humans from one generation to the next. Indeed, a connection is being made for us to ponder and contemplate.

From Abraham, the genealogical listings continue, but those which are especially highlighted are those which descend from a son of promise, Isaac, and not from a son who came in the natural way, Ishmael and other sons of Abraham.

Abraham’s many sons are listed, and at times the sons of their sons are listed as well, but these are branches off the main trunk. The main line is Isaac. And from Isaac comes Esau and Jacob. But Jacob quickly becomes the main line of note, and Esau is easily understood to be another branch.

But then, interestingly, all twelve of Jacob’s sons are highlighted as a single unit, with two more added through adoption. However, from this large assembly, hints begin to develop early on that one of these lines is of special import, Judah.

Several stories clue us into this. Eventually, it becomes perfectly obvious. By the time of David, it can be taken as an axiom that those early stories and prophecies were pointing – once again – to one particular and special listing of the generations of men.

And with the coming of David, it becomes obvious that the line, which is minutely and exactingly being detailed, is to specifically continue through him. The line of man is being highlighted, but a particular line of man is granted special note as it winds through the corridor of unfolding time.

And during this process of unfolding, promises are made which speak of a Man who is anticipated to come. Sometimes these promises, or prophecies, are veiled. Sometimes they are specific, even if the object of them is as of yet unknown.

Jacob speaks of the scepter and of Shiloh, Balaam speaks of one in the distant future who would be the Star out of Jacob and the Scepter out of Israel. The Lord spoke to David concerning the establishment of an everlasting throne and kingdom which would come from him.

And then the Psalms open up revelations, time and again, of One – a human being – who would be the fulfillment of all of the promises which had been made. Page after page of the psalms introduce new insights about Him. Quite often these could only be fully understood after His coming, but many were known to be Messianic all along.

There is enough to know that He is coming, but not enough to be definitive about who He would be, when He would come, and so on. But the overall and most evident aspect of Him is that He would be a Man. Unto us a Child is born. Humanity would clothe Him, and His garments would not be unlike our own.

And of course, the prophets also chimed in, time and again, concerning this exceptional Man to come. Micah even fills in the information that Isaiah leaves out concerning the birth of this anticipated Child –

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel.” Micah 5:2

Bethlehem is a place. It is a part of creation. It is a fixed and definite spot. But it is not just a location, like a lake or a mountain. And it is not a spot for particular animals. For example, in the Bible, there is a place called En Gedi. That means “Fountain of a Goat.” It then speaks of a place where goats are seen.

Bethlehem is a place of people. It is a city inhabited by human beings. The implication is that the anticipated Ruler would be a human as well. One plus one equals two. Nobody who reads those words from Micah would think otherwise. If He comes from a created place, and if He comes from the created people of that place, then He is a human being.

This Person would be from the city of Bethlehem, and He would be from the tribe of Judah. Judah descends from Jacob, Jacob descends from Isaac, and Isaac descends from Abraham. From there, the genealogies which have been carefully recorded go right back to Adam. Do you see how logical and orderly it all is?

Human beings beget human beings, and, therefore, this will be a Man who comes from human beings. The male line is carefully recorded for us to see this. If there is more to this Man than meets the eye, it does not negate that He will be a Man descended from humanity.

So obvious was the prophecy concerning this coming One in Micah, that when Herod the king heard the news that the King of the Jews had been born, he went to the chief priests and scribes and asked where He was to be born… this Christ; this Messiah.

Their answer was clear and precise. They simply cited Micah and told him that it would be Bethlehem. A human being, from a city of human beings, had been prophesied to come and rule.

We could go on and on, with prophecy after prophecy, clearly demonstrating that the Messiah would come into the stream of humanity as a human being, being begotten from human beings.

To state otherwise would not only violate every aspect of Scripture from Genesis to Matthew and then beyond, it would deny the very purpose of the sacrificial system of Israel which anticipated – in the minutest detail – of the need for blood atonement of a like-kind of being.

That isn’t perfectly obvious until the book of Hebrews in the New Testament, but it is as clear as can be when detailed there. Based on this, to state that this coming Messiah is either not a human being, or that He did not come through the line of humanity – from Adam, Seth, Enosh, Cainan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah and then later through Abraham by Sarah, Lot via both of his daughters, Isaac, Jacob, Judah via his daughter-in-law Tamar, Boaz through his mother Rahab the harlot, David through his wife Bathsheba, and so on down the line – yes from all of these and so many others faithfully recorded in Scripture – to state that He did not come through them, then, you are not just dealing with faulty doctrine, you are dealing with heresy. It is a fundamental denial of the genealogical humanity of the coming Messiah.                                

However, the world is full of heretics, and of those who deny this fundamental basis for the coming Messiah. One of these heresies is Docetism. This doctrine states that the occurrence of the coming of Jesus, His historical and bodily existence – and in particular His human form – was only a semblance without any true reality.

The heretic Marcion held to such a belief. He dismissed the advent of Christ as being the Jewish Messiah. To Him, Jesus was rather a spiritual entity. He viewed Christ as so Divine, that He could not have been human. Such views deny what is both logically and Scripturally necessary concerning the humanity of Jesus.

On the other side is Arianism, or its modern equivalent, the heretical doctrine of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. They state that Jesus was a created being and not God. The deity of the God-Man Jesus will be addressed, and this heresy will be refuted then.

There are many odd and heretical teachings between the two as well. For example, there are those who may agree that He is a human, and yet they deny that He was born into humanity. For example, let us take this quote from the sermon “The Two Adams” by Jacob Prasch and see if you can detail his errors –

“As far as God is concerned, there’s only two men who have ever existed, Adam and Yeshua. The first Adam and the second Adam. Everybody is either part of the first Adam, or part of the second Adam. Adam and Yeshua were both created by Ha’Shem by God directly and personally. And they were both created without sin. They did not have a fallen nature.” Jacob Prasch

I don’t know if he still teaches this or not. I don’t listen to other preachers unless someone tells me what they have said, and they want clarification on whether it is correct or not. If he hasn’t corrected this, then he continues in serious theological error. If he has, fine. But the video was sent to me, I was asked if it was Scriptural, and I evaluated it for that reason. I will admit that I learned a couple interesting things from the sermon, but what is said here involves a serious deficiency in Christology. 

Briefly, the first error is contained in the first sentence, “As far as God is concerned, there’s only two men who have ever existed, Adam and Yeshua.” This is such a strange statement that cannot be reconciled with reality. There are countless men who have existed, and all are known by God. Jesus Himself said as much in Mark 12:26 –

“But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?”

Being gracious, we will overlook the obvious error that says that there are only two men who have ever existed and grant that he later defines it as referring to the state of man. Man is either in Adam, or in Christ – and there is no other option apart from those two. That is made explicit in Scripture by Paul in both Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15.

He next says, “Everybody is either part of the first Adam, or part of the second Adam.” This is an error in terminology which is not supported in Scripture. One is either “in” Adam, or “in” Christ. The term “part of” is not found in Scripture, nor does it align with sound doctrine.

One is “in” another because he bears the traits of another. One is in Adam, and he bears the traits of Adam. He may be a part of Adam’s offspring, but that is incidental. When one is “in” Christ, it means that he now bears the traits of Christ. He no longer possesses Adam’s sin nature. One may be a part of what Christ is doing in the world, but again – such a term is incidental.

When Jesus said to Peter in John 13:8, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me,” He was not speaking of physically being a part of Christ, but of having a portion, or share with Christ.

His third, and most egregious error, and which is heretical in what it teaches, is the statement, “Adam and Yeshua were both created by Ha’Shem, by God, directly and personally.” This is the heresy known as Valentinianism.

Jesus is not a created being. That is the error of many cults, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses. However, Jesus, in His humanity, is a part of the creation. There is a world of difference between the two, and it is what defines the distinction between orthodoxy and heresy.

To state that God created Jesus directly and personally as He did with Adam, is to then deny the entire body of Scripture which points to the begetting of human beings, one to another, from Adam to Christ.

God created all things, it is true, but the body of Christ, is an incidental part of creation, not a direct act of creation. Rather, God prepared a body out of that creation for the incarnation. This is evidenced by Hebrews 10:5 –

“Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:
‘Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
But a body You have prepared for Me.’” Hebrews 10:5

Scripture, given by God, carefully – even meticulously – details the preparation of the body of Christ, through seventy-five direct generations of fallen human beings as is recorded in Luke 3, and with the introduction of even more fallen souls who are found in the pages of Scripture, and who likewise enter into His genealogy.

To say that Jesus was created by God, directly and personally, and to have that mean what is being conveyed in that sermon, would be exactly the same thing as saying that Charlie Garrett was created by God, directly and personally.

It is at best a category mistake, but such a category mistake results in the formulation of a heretical doctrine. The body of Christ, despite having come through these innumerable fallen souls was prepared perfectly by God, not suddenly created. Jesus is the seventy-seventh name noted in Luke’s genealogy, and God is the first.

The record is given, and the details are provided, to ensure that the error of assuming that Jesus was a being created directly and personally by God, would not be made. The statement that Jesus was created is incorrect, but that He was – and is – without sin is true.

But how can that be reconciled? If Jesus’ humanity descended from fallen beings, then how can it be that Jesus was without sin? The answer is found in what was commanded to Abraham in Genesis 17, and which is found in the body of every properly observant Jew concerning this precept to this day, even if they missed the significance of what it anticipated – circumcision.

It was fitting for Him, our Lord Jesus
For whom are all things, and by whom they are as well
In bringing many sons to glory, even us
As the precious words of Scripture do tell 

To make the Captain of our salvation
Perfect through sufferings, His great tribulation

For both He who sanctifies
And those who are being sanctified too
Are all one; in His death each of us dies
A marvel in how His children He does accrue 

For which reason He is not ashamed, time and again
To call them brothers, you and me too
Saying “I will declare Your name to my brethren
In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You”

II. Jesus Christ – the Sinless Man

God said to Abraham in Genesis 17:11 that being circumcised in the flesh of the foreskin was “a sign of the covenant between Me and you.” A sign is representative of something else. It is not a thing all by itself, as many Jews seem to perceive it. “See, I am circumcised, and this is the sign of the covenant between God and me. I am right because of the cut in my flesh.”

That is incorrect. A sign anticipates, pictures, and reveals something else. This is why Moses speaks twice in Deuteronomy of circumcision of the heart in verses 10:16 and 30:6, why Jeremiah repeats that many hundreds of years later in Jeremiah 4:4, and then Paul explains what a true Jew is with these words –

“For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; ²⁹ but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.” Romans 2:28, 29

The physical aspect of circumcision looks to an inner aspect. If the latter is missing, the former is void of any value. Indeed, circumcision is not limited to the Jewish people. Rather, it has been and is practiced by Gentile cultures around the world, and their circumcision is as meritless as the circumcision found in Jews whose hearts are not circumcised along with their flesh.

If circumcision is a sign of something else, then what is it a sign of? It is that which many other signs from the Old Testament anticipate, Christ. Adam, a true and actual human, was created without sin, but fell through disobedience. In his fall, sin entered the world, and as Paul then explains –

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— ¹³ (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.” Romans 5:12-14

In other words, all bear Adam’s image, meaning his sin nature. Adam sinned, and in Adam all sinned. Because of sin, man is unrighteous. But God declared Abraham righteous by a simple act of faith. That is seen in Genesis 15, prior to the giving of the sign of the covenant –

“‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.’
⁶ And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” Genesis 15:6

The righteousness of Abraham led to the covenant with Abraham, and the covenant of Abraham was given a sign – circumcision. That sign anticipated the coming of Christ. Abraham understood this because he had already been told as much in Genesis 12 –

“Now the Lord had said to Abram:
‘Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.
² I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
³ I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’” Genesis 12:1-3

The promise of Messiah had already been made, the continued understanding of His coming is implied in the words to Abraham, and thus, Messiah would come through Him. As Abraham was not the father of all the families of the earth, then it follows that the words spoken to him were in relation to Messiah who would descend from him. This is something that would be again confirmed to him.

Later, as we saw, Abraham was declared righteous by faith in God’s words. And today, how is one declared righteous? It is through faith in Christ. But that is getting ahead of ourselves.

We have to remember that it is the humanity of Christ which makes this obtainable. As Christ was not created, directly and immediately, then He descended from Adam and his subsequent generations – as the Bible clearly lays out.

But if all in Adam have sinned, then how can Christ, who is descended from Adam, be sinless? And indeed, Paul clearly says that Christ is so descended. Was David descended from Adam? Yes or no? We all agree that it is so. And, in fact, David inherited sin because of this –

“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.” Psalm 51:5

David is descended from Adam. But Paul says of the gospel to his protégé Timothy –

“Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, ⁹ for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained.” 2 Timothy 2:8

If David is of the seed of Adam, and Christ is of the seed of David, then Christ is of the seed of Adam. In proper theology one plus one always equals two. To support this further, the author of Hebrews says that Christ arose from Judah (7:14).

The term “seed of David” cannot be misconstrued or twisted because of this. The genealogical record does not allow anything but a real descent from Adam through these men, and then to Christ Jesus. But this is only true in His human nature. And so, where is the dilemma resolved?

It is because of a young Jewish girl named Mary. Whether Mary is of the line of David or not is debated. She was a cousin of Elizabeth who is clearly from the priestly line of Levi through Aaron. But this does not mean Mary was.

It could be that the mother of Mary, and the mother of Elizabeth, were sisters descended from Aaron, but Mary’s mother could have married a man of Judah. If so, then Mary would be reckoned as being of the tribe of Judah through her father. Regardless of this though, Joseph was of the tribe of Judah and the house of David –

“Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.” Luke 1:26, 27

Because the line of a child is based on that of the father, to include all inheritance rights, the birth of Jesus would have been reckoned as such. However, as the account tells us, the Holy Spirit came upon her, and the power of the Highest overshadowed her. God is the Father of Christ.

As sin travels through the father, and as Christ’s true Father is God, He inherited no sin. The rite of circumcision, the sign of the covenant, is simply a picture of the incarnation of Jesus Christ. It is the cutting of the sin nature because of the cutting of that which transmits the sin from father to child. Picture fulfilled. Hence, circumcision is not required to be included in the New Covenant, as Paul clearly states again and again in his epistles.

This then takes us back even further. The Bible has spoken of the generations of Adam, the generations of Noah, the generations of Shem, Terah, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau, Levi, and so on. The seed of the man has directed the course of human history, even to Christ.

But there is another Seed which affects all of them – the Seed of the woman. We were admonished earlier to stop and ponder why the Messiah would be called the Seed of the woman. It is the seed of man by which genealogies would be determined. Right?

However, it is the Seed of the woman that would bruise the serpent’s head. The Lord didn’t say to Eve, “Your seed will bruise the serpent’s head.” She just assumed it was so. He said to the serpent, v’evah ashit benekha u-ben ha’ishah – “And enmity I will put between you and between the woman.”

Eve had to assume that “the woman” was her, and the assumption was wrong. One can argue at another time if the woman is Israel or Mary, but Mary is of Israel. The Seed of the woman is the Man, Christ Jesus. Mary was the human receptacle for the God-Man. Thus, He bears all of her humanity, but none of man’s sin.

The sign of circumcision is fulfilled. The sin-nature of Adam is cut, and the righteousness of God is found in Him. This would not be true if Jesus were a created being. He would not bear the humanity of David, which Paul clearly states is found in Him.

He would also not be a descendant of Abraham, or Isaac, or Jacob, as promised to them. Paul explicitly says that, and he cited Scripture to show that the human link is found in Christ –

“Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ.” Galatians 3:16

Again, to deny the genealogical record of Christ, leading to His incarnation and which makes up His humanity, one has to completely abuse the force and intent of the entire body of Scripture. Jesus was born into the stream of humanity, not created, and He was and is fully human.

More importantly, a denial of the truth of the genealogical humanity which led to Him would result in a problem with the deity of Christ as well. If Mary was just a receptacle for the creation of Jesus as some have claimed, then 1) Jesus is not God, because there is only One God who cannot create another God, or 2) God would have had to create a body for Christ, which He then united with.

There would be no begetting of His humanity in the process. This is similar to a confusion of thought concerning Christ’s deity which is seen in the error of the heretic Arius. He said, “If the Father begat the Son, then he who was begotten had a beginning in existence, and from this it follows there was a time when the Son was not.”

This is an error in understanding the nature of God. Jesus Christ is God. If God created Jesus in the womb of Mary, and yet He is God, then God and His creation are one indivisible single unit, but they are not. The incarnation says that God is the Creator and the creation is created.

Therefore, there is a distinction between the humanity and deity of Christ, a doctrine known as the hypostatic union. This describes the union of God and Man in the person of Jesus Christ – two hyposies, or states, in one.

He didn’t possess humanity before His conception, but since His conception, He is clothed in humanity forevermore. And although He is united with human flesh in this “hypostatic union,” He is not bound by the human nature; He remains fully God. His two natures are not in any way separate and yet they in no way intermingle. But if His body was created in the womb by God, for Jesus who is God, the two would intermingle.

Rather, His humanity remains human. He has all the attributes of man.

1. Human genealogy
2. He aged and increased in knowledge,
3. He prayed
4. He got hungry.
5. He got tired.
6. He felt compassion.
7. He wept.
8. He was thirsty.
9. Many times, more than 100 in fact, He is called the Son of Man or the Son of David, demonstrating his human nature.

Adam was created, and he is not God, though he wanted to be like God. Jesus Christ IS God. This is exactly the opposite of what Mr. Prasch later says in his sermon. He says, “He was God who became a man” (23:50). This is incorrect. He IS God who united with humanity in the incarnation. But unlike Adam, He treated His state in exactly the opposite way–

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, ⁷ but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Philippians 2:5-8 

In the womb of Mary, there was not a creation of man and a uniting with that man, thus forming a human who is God – a logical impossibility, because God is infinite.

Instead, there was a human who was a part of the creation and who was designed to bear children, who then was overshadowed by the Creator in order to beget a Son. The result is the God-Man, Jesus Christ. He is a fully human, but He is also God. This is why the very first page of the Bible tells us that all things reproduce after their own kind. Humans beget humans. God begat a Son. And Jesus Christ is the God-Man.

The humanity of Jesus Christ serves all of the purposes of redemption for fallen man, because He is the embodiment of all that is needed to redeem fallen man. Without this humanity, man could not be redeemed, but through the shed blood of Christ, it is possible. But more, without the shed blood of Christ, it is impossible.

All of the types and pictures of the sacrificial system of the Old Covenant only anticipated the coming of Messiah. As Hebrews 10:4 says –

“For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.”

If one thinks about it logically, Christ is both the sacrifice for sin, and He is the standard for judgment. He was found without sin, and He prevailed over death because of it. He is the embodiment of the law, and therefore, what He has done is the ideal to which all others must attain in order to meet God’s standard and be accepted by Him.

Therefore, one will either be found in Christ, and thus acceptable to God, or he will not be in Christ and be found unacceptable to God. The judgment will be that simple to conduct. There will be no balances to weigh out good and bad. There will be no listing of deeds leading to justification. There will be no time in purgatory which leads to a state of sanctification and holiness. There will only be those in Christ and those who are not in Christ. Those in Christ will be saved; the others will be condemned.

For now, we will close with the thought that theology matters, doctrine matters, and both of them matter in being precise. It is one thing to not know a matter, be given the gospel, and to then be saved by receiving the gospel.

It is another thing to be taught a heretical teaching and then be asked to trust in the one whom that heretical teaching proclaims. The first will be saved. Such a person does not need to be told the many intricate details of the incarnation of Jesus Christ in order to be saved. He simply hears the gospel, receives it, and is saved.

However, when someone is told in advance of hearing the gospel that Jesus is a created being; or that Jesus Christ is not God; or that people need to continue to observe the law in order to be saved; or that a person can lose his salvation; and on and on and on, he has put his trust in a false Jesus and he will not be saved.

How can we know this is true? Because Paul says as much in Galatians 1 –

“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, ⁷ which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. ⁹ As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” Galatians 1:6-9

Another gospel is no gospel. Be sure to share the gospel, but don’t confuse who Jesus is, what the nature of Jesus Christ who is God is, or anything else in your presentation. Stick to the basics, and then they can go about ruining their doctrine all by themselves if they so wish. Or, they can pursue that which is sound and reasonable in order to stand approved before the Lord on the Day when we face Him for our rewards and losses.

Closing Verse: “For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah…” Hebrews 7:14

The Trinity

Read 2 Peter 1:16-21. When I first typed this sermon, I had a cheesy joke to begin us. You would have thought it was funny and laughed, but it would have also been the one thing that you remembered above the rest of the sermon.

That is why I don’t include jokes in sermons. Nothing of real value is conveyed by them, and yet it is that one thing that will most stick in your memory. I know this is true because of all the great Adrian Rogers sermons that I listened to, the jokes he began his sermons with are what I still remember. That’s actually rather sad.

While typing my commentary on 2 Peter 1:17, I decided that citing the substance of it would be a better use of our precious time. That verse says, “…for having received from God the Father honour and glory, such a voice being borne to him by the excellent glory: ‘This is My Son — the beloved, in whom I was well pleased;’” (YLT).

This verse, like the account of Jesus at His baptism, teaches us a lesson in the nature of God. Though the word translated as “borne” is a commonly used word, it is of note that it is the same word used in Acts 2:2 and which is translated as “a ‘rushing’ mighty wind.”

In other words, the Excellent Glory refers to the Holy Spirit who transmits the word of God from God the Father. He does it in written form through men of God (2 Peter 1:21 – where the same word is also used there), and He does it in open displays of glory, such as on the Mount of Transfiguration and when He came to the people of Israel at Pentecost.

In this, it is seen that all three of the members of the Godhead were demonstrably present at that moment. Peter says the Source is God the Father. The Excellent Glory is the Holy Spirit conveying (bearing) the word, and Jesus, the beloved Son, is the recipient of the honor conveyed in that word.

It is a rather marvelous display of the workings of what we would call “the Trinity” as the members of the Godhead harmoniously interacted for us to more fully understand God’s nature.

This same basic proclamation was made upon Jesus twice during His ministry. The first time was at His baptism and is recorded in Matthew 3:16, 17 (also in Mark and Luke) –

“When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. ¹⁷And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” Matthew 3:16, 17

The words of Peter in his epistle confirm that he and the others were eyewitnesses of the glory of Jesus Christ. Jesus told his apostles “Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom” (Matthew 16:28).

In all the three gospel accounts, the transfiguration immediately followed this statement, indicating that this is what Jesus was speaking of. The occurrence was like a note of deposit for the apostles to reflect on and stand by when times would get tough. Peter uses this to assure us that what he says is both true and reasonable.

There is a God, Peter calls Him the Father, but Peter also refers to the Son, and Peter speaks of the conveying of the Father’s word by the Excellent Glory – indicating that a third member is present and actively accomplishing a part of what is going on.

The Christian concept of God is that of a Trinity within the Godhead. There is, in fact, one God. The Bible – and indeed simple logic – tells us this. Despite that, the Bible also refers to God in a way which reveals that He is expressed in a Triune manner.

However, because the Bible never mentions the word “Trinity,” it is claimed that the idea of a Trinity is not reasonable. But such a statement is, by itself, unreasonable. A doctrine, idea, or concept may not be named in a text by using a particular word, but it does not mean that the concept is not fully fleshed-out in another way.

For example, you will not find the term “original sin” in the Bible. However, it is implicitly taught from the very first pages of Genesis all the way through to the final words of Revelation. It is also explicitly stated in another way in the 51^st Psalm.

Likewise, the word “rapture” is not explicitly stated in the Bible, but it is a concept clearly taught there. The idea of the rapture first comes from a Greek word, harpazó, which signifies to be snatched up, suddenly and decisively.

This state of being snatched up suddenly is said by Paul to be an action accomplished by the Lord, and it is for the explicit purpose of changing the redeemed of the Lord from their earthly bodies to heavenly bodies.

In this action of being snatched up, there is a transformation from a state of mortality, pain, sorrow, and physical death to a state of immortality, health, joy, and eternal life – which is exactly what the word “rapture” implies.

 

Rapture means “intense pleasure or joy.” Therefore, the word does not translate harpazó, but it does explain what the harpazó initiates. The two are not synonymous; they are complementary.

This event, the rapture, is clearly laid out in exquisite detail by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 and in 1 Thessalonians 4, and yet people skip over them as if they aren’t even written down, and their defense is to say, “The word ‘rapture’ is never mentioned in the Bible.”

We do these things because of our own faulty logic, we do them because of presuppositions, or we might do them because we want to show that we are more knowledgeable on a subject than others, even when we are not properly versed on it ourselves.

This is certainly true with the doctrine of the Trinity. If we want to deny – for whatever perverse reason – the nature of God as is revealed in Scripture, then we will use faulty logic to meet our goal. I say this because the Trinity is what Scripture reveals. Because it is, sound interpretation and proper logic will inevitably reveal the precept.

The same Bible that teaches that there is one God, that there is original sin, and that the rapture really will happen, also gives us insight and revelation concerning the doctrine of the Trinity.

Text Verse: “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” Zechariah 12:10

For those who deny the Trinity, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Zechariah 12:10 is such a problematic verse that a literal reading is simply ignored, and a margin note is inserted into it instead.

The Lord, who is clearly presented as the One and only God in Scripture, is speaking in the passage. He says that He will pour out the ruakh, or Spirit upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Without the rest of Scripture, the meaning of ruakh could be debated if it is referring to the Holy Spirit or a general spirit.

Scripture elsewhere, however, does answer what is being referred to – meaning the Holy Spirit. After that, the Hebrew says, v’hibitu elay eth asher daqaru – and they will look on Me whom they pierced.” However, God is Spirit. And so, apart from accepting the Trinity, this makes no sense.

Because of this, a margin note, citing variant readings of the verse, is used by disbelieving Jews, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and others in their translations, thus changing the text to read “and they will look to the one whom they pierced.” That safely allows them to continue on in their otherwise incorrect and incoherent theology.

This is all the more so because the verse immediately goes from the first person common singular, Me, to third person masculine singular, Him, twice. The obviously correct reading is “Me” rather than “Him,” or “the one.” The reason for this is that the very difficulty of the use of “Me” sets it apart as otherwise impossible unless it was truly inspired.

In other words, the reading is so obvious as to what it proclaims that it would be impossible to accept unless it was exactly what God intended.

However, because there is a variant reading, the doctrine can be dismissed as an aberration – unless all of Scripture is laid out and analyzed in order to come to a final resolution of what is being conveyed to us concerning the nature of God.

Obviously, all of Scripture cannot be analyzed in a short sermon, but we can at least get a reasonable grounding in what Scripture says concerning this precept. And we will attempt to do just that. The mystery of the Trinity is, in fact, revealed in God’s precious and sacred word. And so, let us turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Monotheism – One God

Malik Jabbar says –

“All of the monotheistic religions, which primarily include Islam, Christianity and Judaism are mythological representations of the natural environment. The ancients fashioned their spiritual concepts as mythical copies of natural phenomena, the environment and its interactions. They pictured the sun as the ruler of the universe, the life giver, the conqueror of darkness and cold, the scorcher with its intense fire, the compassionate with its soothing heat. When the sun triumphantly appeared on the eastern horizon at the dawning of the day, the whole universe (from our earthly perspective) was seen bowing in submission to the greatest of all lights. All the stars and planets of the higher and lower heavens were vanquished without trace at the dawning of the great sun god. This physical reality is the true seminal generator of our religious rituals in reference to an omnipotent conquering god, evolved from the customs of the ancients”.

What Jabbar says here is both an irrational and an incoherent attempt to explain away monotheism. If man were to make a religion based on natural phenomena, which has happened innumerable times, he would certainly not be a monotheist. The sun would be one of many gods, and this is what has occurred as religion has devolved throughout the ages.

In the 19th psalm David skips over the created god Jabbar proclaims and exalts the God who created the very sun who was supposedly the object of reverence in his confused analysis.

“The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.” …
“In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun.” Psalm 19:1 & 4

David understood that the Creator is above, not subservient to, or part of, His creation.

However, liberal theologians have twisted the evolution of religion, turning it completely upside down. It is evident from the historical record in the worship of God by man that the most ancient belief is that of monotheism. From that point, worship has devolved into polytheism, animism, etc., not the other way around. Assyriologist Stephen Langdon says –

“The history of Sumerian religion, which was the most powerful cultural influence in the ancient world, could be traced by means of pictographic inscriptions almost to the earliest religious concepts of man. The evidence points unmistakably to an original monotheism, the inscriptions and literary remains of the oldest Semitic peoples also indicate a primitive monotheism, and the totemistic origin of Hebrew and other Semitic religions is now entirely discredited.” Stephen Langdon

The region of Sumeria, which Langdon cites, is where many of the early Bible figures find their homes. And it is the record of these early people, by those who descended from them, who have given us the pages of the Bible as breathed out by the One true God.

From the first page of the Bible to its last, the idea that there is One and only One true God is proclaimed. And this goes in both directions, meaning from the top-down and from the bottom up.

God speaking to man –

“For thus says the Lord,
Who created the heavens,
Who is God,
Who formed the earth and made it,
Who has established it,
Who did not create it in vain,
Who formed it to be inhabited:
“I am the Lord, and there is no other.’” Isaiah 45:18

In the book of Isaiah alone, this claim is explicitly made almost a dozen times.

Man speaking to God –

“For You are great, and do wondrous things;
You alone are God.” Psalm 86:10

Yes, the Bible proclaims that there is one God. But reason and intellect tell us this as well. We can know it is true by simply thinking things through in a rational manner. Of the twelve First Principles, points 8, 9, and 10 reveal this.

First, point 8 states that a Necessary Being Cannot Cause A Necessary Being. In other words, if there is a God, there can only be one God. This is known as the Negative Principle of Modality. It is undeniable. Only one Necessary Being can exist. Any being which exists apart from a Necessary Being is contingent and could simply Not exist. It is not “necessary.” This is self-evident.

Point 9 then says that Every Contingent Being Is Caused by a Necessary Being. This is known as the Principle of Existential Causality. The fact that there are contingent beings necessitates that a Necessary Being (God) exists. We exist, therefore a Being that cannot Not exist must exist. The principle is undeniable in and of itself.

And, point 10 then concludes that a Necessary Being Exists. This is the Principle of Existential Necessity. Contingent beings exist (such as you and I); therefore, a Necessary Being must exist. The principle is reducible to the undeniable.

We did not need the Bible to come to those conclusions. And yet, we logically came to those conclusions. The Bible does not argue the existence of God. It proclaims that He is. It is our responsibility to contemplate this God and to logically and rationally consider if what it presents is true or not.

I say this because other texts, such as the Koran, also proclaim that there is a “god.” But does what the Koran teach about God reflect the truth of God. If so, then we should all become Muslims? If not, then Muslims are following a false god. How can you know unless you think these things through?

The Koran teaches that God is a monad, a single God who is not part of a Godhead. But how could a being that didn’t understand fellowship create anything beyond Himself which fellowships? He would be completely contained within Himself. The twelfth First Principle, the Principle of Analogy states that “The cause of being cannot produce what it does not possess.”

If God does not possess – and thus understand – fellowship, He could not create that which fellowships. The principle is undeniable, and the precept which comes from the principle is irrefutable. Because of this, the mere fact that we are social beings confirms a plurality within a single essence such as the Trinity.

As a demonstration of the soundness of the doctrine, early church fathers, even before the compilation of the various books of the Bible, taught the doctrine of the Trinity in their writings. They didn’t just pull this out of the wind. Rather, it was handed down to them directly from the Apostles.

Polycarp, the Bishop of Smyrna, was a personal disciple of John the Apostle. In other words, he knew John and learned directly at his feet. He wrote –

“O Lord God almighty… I bless you and glorify you through the eternal and heavenly high priest Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, through whom be glory to you, with Him and the Holy Spirit, both now and forever.” Polycarp

What he wrote was from a clear understanding of the specific roles within the Godhead. Tertullian, who lived during the second and third century, was an African apologist and theologian. He wrote a great deal in defense of Christianity, including on the doctrine of the Trinity –

“We define that there are two, the Father and the Son, and three with the Holy Spirit, and this number is made by the pattern of salvation… [which] brings about unity in trinity, interrelating the three, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are three, not in dignity, but in degree, not in substance but in form, not in power but in kind. They are of one substance and power, because there is one God from whom these degrees, forms and kinds devolve in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” Tertullian

Such writings are not easily dismissed, because these people were right there at the beginning of the Christian faith. It is true that there were many heresies early on as well, and so even early writings have to be analyzed in light of Scripture itself. It is through Scripture that we find the final authority for the teaching of Trinitarianism.

As Scripture reveals only one God, and yet Scripture reveals a Trinity within the Godhead, then true Christians are Trinitarian monotheists.

Unfortunately, the idea of the Trinity is so dismissed by cults, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, that they are trained to claim that what mainstream Christians believe is actually a Triad within a godhead, not a Trinity within the Godhead. But this is certainly not the case. The difference between a Triad and the Trinity is the difference between the finite and the infinite.

A Triad speaks of three “gods,” a logical impossibility. The Trinity speaks of One God, in three Persons – which is what the Bible proclaims. There is a fullness to God which Scripture then reveals – not of two or four or ten Persons, but three – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

As the Bible is God’s revelation of Himself, and as it is the rule and guide of proper faith, we would be ignorant at best, and found false teachers as well, should we deny what it proclaims.

But this doesn’t mean it is an easy concept to understand. Scholars have struggled with it all along, and we continue to do so. John Wesley said, “Bring me a worm that can comprehend a man, and then I will show you a man that can comprehend the Triune God.”

This may be true to some extent, but just because we cannot fully comprehend the Triune God, it does not mean that we cannot at least explain how He can be Triune, and what the aspects of each member of the Godhead will be like.

Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of Hosts
He is glorious and almighty
To Him we give our praises, and in Him are found our boasts
Now and forevermore, there before the glassy sea

 In Him is all majesty and all power
In Him is all glory, now and forevermore
For all eternity and from this very hour
Our God we shall praise, for it is He our hearts adore 

Holy is the Lord our God, yes holy is He
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit whom we adore
And so, to Him we trod, to the shores of that glassy sea
Where we shall behold His glory forevermore

II. One God in Three Persons – The Trinity

The Trinity is hinted at throughout the Bible – Old Testament and New. However, it remained a mystery long-hidden at God’s prerogative. It wasn’t until the coming of Christ that the mystery of this profound secret was finally and fully revealed. As Paul says as he closes out the book of Romans –

“Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith—to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.” Romans 16:25-27

As already noted, the doctrine of the Trinity states that God is threefold in Person and yet they together are one God – three Persons in one Essence. The term “persons” comes from the writings of Augustine who agreed that it wasn’t the best of terms but, as he said, “rather than being silent on the subject…”

The reason he said this is because he could not be silent on the subject. Scripture is not, and – therefore – the Christian cannot be. This Trinity as revealed throughout Scripture is:

God the Father
God the Son
God the Holy Spirit

In the Bible, at one time or another, each of these Persons is referred to either implicitly or explicitly as God. He has the attributes of God, accomplishes that which belongs to God, and so on. And yet, each is spoken of as an individual Person. As this is so, then there are individual Persons, three being identified, who make up the Godhead.

For example, each is stated as being involved in the act of creation; He is the Creator. Each is referred to as being eternal. Both Jesus and the Spirit are said to search out the heart and mind, but that is what God in the Old Testament is said to do. Etc.

Other such things as these, time and again, are attributed to the Lord God in the Old Testament, and yet they are things which are spoken of as being attributed to the Father, to the Son, and/or to the Holy Spirit in the New.

Either the Bible is filled with confusion, or each of these is God. When Jesus uttered the Great Commission to his apostles, he said the following:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19

In the Greek, the word “name” is onoma. It is a singular noun. This means that the three – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – are spoken of as one essence. Is this an aberration? It is something completely unique to the New Testament? Or, can we find parallels even in the Old? No, No, and Yes.

For example, Deuteronomy 6:4, is known as the Shema, or “Hear.” It is the Hebrew statement of faith which is faithfully repeated thousands of times a day by observant Jews ever since it was given to Moses 3500 years ago –

Shema Yisrael Yehovah Elohaynu Yehovah ekhad
“Hear, O Israel: Yehovah our God, Yehovah is one!”

In this, it says “The Lord (Yehovah) is One.” A cluster of grapes is one; the people Israel are one people. Both of these are made up of individual parts and yet are termed “one.” 

The word ekhad used in the Shema allows for this interpretation. There is another word which means one and only one – yakhid. It was used, for example, when speaking of Abraham’s one and only son, Isaac. It is remarkable, but not unexpected that ekhad, rather than yakhid, was used in the Shema, because the Bible elsewhere reveals that the Godhead is a plurality within a single essence.

But even though Scripture reveals this Godhead, is there any way of accurately describing it without being utterly incorrect in our thinking? A friend of mine said that the more you continue to talk about the Trinity, the more likely you are to devolve into heresy. That is certainly true. Eventually, words can no longer explain every detail of what God is like, and we run off into error.

But that does not mean we cannot form a basic concept of the Trinity which, at least partially, reveals it without being incorrect. And yet, we have to be careful in attempting to do so.

Throughout the ages, people have used tangible concepts to try to explain this Trinity. One is to equate it to water which can be steam, liquid, or solid. Another is to take a circle and divide it into three equal parts. The egg has been used because it has a shell, a yolk, and the white. But, none of these accurately portrays the concept. In fact, if used they lead to heresy. 

So, is there is no proper analogy? Has God left us with a concept in Scripture, but no way to rightly contemplate it or explain it? Interestingly, a concept has been provided, and it is visible everywhere you look. It is beautifully explained by Dr. Nathan Wood in the book The Secret of the Universe. I cited it in a sermon from Numbers 6, but it is useful and proper to cite again here.

He explains that the universe is made of a trinity of Space, Time, and Matter. Further, each of these is a trinity itself. Space is comprised of Length, Breadth, and Height. Time is expressed in Past, Present, and Future. And matter consists of Energy in Motion producing Phenomena. The universe itself is a trinity of trinities.

But more, we can equate Space with the Father – unseen and yet omnipresent; matter with the Son – visible, tangible, understandable; and Time with the Spirit – which is unseen and yet it is a medium in which we move and gain understanding.

From that, Dr. Wood further defines a trinity using Time as his primary example. He breaks it down into an understandable concept. After doing this, he changes only four words and thereby accurately explains the mystery of the Trinity as revealed in Scripture –

The Future is the source. The Future is unseen, unknown, except as it continually embodies itself and makes itself visible in the Present. The Present is what we see, and hear, and know. It is ceaselessly embodying the Future, day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. It is perpetually revealing the Future, hitherto invisible.

The Future is logically first, but not chronologically. For the Present exists as long as Time exists, and was in the absolute beginning of Time. The Present has existed as long as Time has existed. Time acts through and in the Present. It makes itself visible only in the Present. The Future acts, and reveals itself through the Present. It is through the Present that Time, that the Future, enters into union with human life. Time and humanity meet and unite in the Present. It is in the Present that Time, that the Future, becomes a part of human life, and so is born and lives and dies in human life.

The Past in turn comes from the Present. We cannot say that it embodies the Present. On the contrary Time in issuing from the Present into the Past becomes invisible again. The Past does not embody the Present. Rather it proceeds silently, endlessly, invisibly from it.

But the Present is not the source of the Past which proceeds from it. The Future is the source of both the Present and the Past. The Past issues in endless, invisible procession from the Present, but, back of that, from the Future out of which the Present comes.

The Past issues, it proceeds, from the Future, through the Present.

The Present therefore comes out from the invisible Future. The Present perpetually and ever-newly embodies the Future in visible, audible, livable form; and returns again into invisible Time in the Past. The Past acts invisibly.  It continually influences us with regard to the Present. It casts light upon the Present. That is its great function. It helps us to live in the Present which we know, and with reference to the Future which we expect to see.

Dr. Wood next substitutes Time with God, Future with Father, Present with Son, and Past with Spirit. And the result is –

The Father is the source. The Father is unseen, unknown, except as He continually embodies Himself and makes Himself visible in the Son. The Son is what we see, and hear, and know. He is ceaselessly embodying the Father, day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. He is perpetually revealing the Father, hitherto invisible.

The Father is logically first, but not chronologically. For the Son exists as long as God exists, and was in the absolute beginning of God. The Son has existed as long as God has existed. God acts through and in the Son. The Father makes Himself visible only in the Son. The Father acts, and reveals Himself through the Son. It is through the Son that God, that the Father, enters into union with human life, and so is born and lives and dies in human life. God and humanity meet and unite in the Son. It is in the Son that God, that the Father, becomes a part of human life, and so is born and lives and dies in human life.

The Spirit in turn comes from the Son. We cannot say that it embodies the Son. On the contrary the Spirit in issuing from the Son into the Spirit becomes invisible again. The Spirit does not embody the Son. Rather it proceeds silently, endlessly, invisibly from Him.

But the Son is not the source of the Spirit who proceeds from Him. The Father is the source of both the Son and the Spirit. The Spirit issues in endless, invisible procession from the Son, but back of that, from the Father out of whom the Son comes.

The Spirit issues, He proceeds, from the Father, through the Son.

The Son therefore comes out from the invisible Father. The Son perpetually and ever-newly embodies the Father in visible, audible, livable form; and returns again into invisible God in the Spirit.  The Spirit acts invisibly. It continually influences us with regard to the Son. It casts light upon the Son. That is His great function. He helps us to live in the Son which we know, and with reference to the Father which we expect to see.

And that is just what has been evident since creation in the physical universe and to which the Bible faithfully testifies to concerning the nature of the Godhead. Examples from the Bible –

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” Genesis 1:26

Right in the first chapter of Scripture the terms “Us” and “Our” are used by the Creator reflecting His triune nature. Again, in Isaiah –

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
“Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?”
Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” Isaiah 6:8

As we saw in our text verse, Chapter 12 of Zechariah, still Old Testament, places all three members of the Trinity together in one passage. The Gospel of John, time and again, reflects the relationship between the Father and the Son as well as the Spirit –

Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? John 14:8, 9

And again, in John 16 –

“Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. ⁸ And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹ of sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; ¹¹ of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” John 16:7-11

Next, Paul shows that he clearly understood God’s triune nature. He alludes to it here and elsewhere many times in his epistles –

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” 2 Corinthians 13:14

And again in 1 Timothy 6:13-16 he writes –

“I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, ¹⁴ that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, ¹⁵ which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.”

Who is Paul speaking about when he says that “God gives life to all things?” God obviously. But in Job 33, John 6, Romans 8, and 2 Corinthians 3, it is said that the Spirit gives life.

And who is Paul speaking of when he says, “the King of kings and Lord of lords?” It must be the Lord God, and yet it is the same title which John uses when referring to Jesus in Revelation 19:16. We could go on and on in this, but – instead – we will go on…

Oh God! You are our Father, and we are your children
You brought us forth for Your honor and glory
You have brought forth all the sons of men
We have become a part of Your redemption story 

It is You who begat us, and to You we lift our praise
It is You who created so that we came forth to You
It is we who turned away, for seemingly endless days
But You never abandoned us; You are ever faithful and true

And so, O God our Father, bring us back to You
Turn our hearts to You so that we are right again
Lead us on paths that are righteous and true
Look with favor on Your wayward children

III. The First Member – God the Father

God the Father is clearly acknowledged by all Christians as well as most cults and sects who use the Bible as their reference. An unfortunate exception of course has come out of modern liberal denominations with songs and hymns which have purposed a gender-neutral God. Such perversity has taken over many major denominations –

Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above the Heavenly host
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (Good and proper)

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God for all that love has done;
Creator, Christ, and Spirit, One. (Bad and contemptible)

This gender-neutral trend is not how God has revealed Himself, nor shall we. Regardless of such depravity, the texts as received from God for our Bible are in the masculine and for that reason, we adapt political correctness in this matter at our own peril. God’s word stands though. Concerning God the Father we read –

“Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us?” Malachi 2:10

“Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.” John 6:46

This verse from John 6, plus those from both John 14 and John 16 which I read earlier, perfectly match the description Dr. Wood made concerning the nature of the Trinity. God is One, and within the Godhead, there is the Person and the role of the Father.

Who is like the Son of God that came from above?
Who can compare in splendid majesty?
Where can be found the depth of His love?
When God reveals Himself as such, how can it be? 

Great are You O God, who came from the eternal realm
And who for fallen men stepped out of eternity
We behold Jesus, our Captain! He at the helm
And He is taking us to His place of victory 

Hail the Son who died upon the cross!
Hail the One who died upon Calvary!
In Him is the triumph – to the devil only loss
For in Christ Jesus is God’s perfect victory

IV. The Second Member – God the Son

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. ⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” John 1:1-5

This could not have been stated any more clearly concerning the nature of the Word, meaning the Son, and His eternal relationship with God. And yet, people perversely twist something so clear and so concise in order to deny the truth of the very words so meticulously penned by John under inspiration of the Spirit.

In his first epistle, John follows the exact same pattern concerning the Word. These verses, along with everything else John writes, are so absolutely clear concerning the deity of Jesus that it is without excuse to misunderstand or deny what he is saying –

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— ² the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us.” 1 John 1:1, 2

Later in Revelation, John quotes Jesus’ own words – His own claim to deity. If the resurrection didn’t prove it to us, He clarifies it to us out of His own mouth –

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” Revelation 22:13

Of course, that is not Jesus’ only claim to eternality, and thus deity. There are many examples of it. However, we have to be careful that we only use that which is intended to be used in this way. The next verse speaks of Jesus’ eternality, but maybe not the way you have thought, or been taught –

“Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” John 8:58

If you have heard that the words here, translated as “I AM” prove Jesus was claiming to be God, it is not that simple. The Greek reads ego eimi. However, if you go to the very next chapter, the same words are used by the man Jesus healed –

“Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, ‘Is not this he who sat and begged?’
⁹ Some said, ‘This is he.’ Others said, ‘He is like him.’
He said, ‘I am he.’” John 9:8, 9

In this exchange, the man states ego eimi just as Jesus did. He clearly wasn’t claiming to be God, so we need to be careful to not swallow the wrong colored pill.

The claim of deity in John 8 is evident from the construct of the verse – “Before Abraham was.” Jesus was saying that He is before Abraham was. Thus, He preceded Abraham and must be God. It is also evident from the actions of the people based on the Hebrew or Aramaic Jesus would have spoken, not necessarily the Greek used in the translation. How do we know this?

“Then they took up stones to throw at Him;” John 8:59

The very fact that they picked up stones to throw at Him testifies that He had claimed an existence which only belonged to Yehovah. Thus, He was being accused of blasphemy, for which stoning was the penalty. And again, this next verse leaves no doubt –

“‘I and My Father are one.’ Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.” John 10:31

Here, it is both what Jesus said and the reaction of the people that assure us that Jesus was claiming deity. Luke had no doubt of Christ’s deity. Listen to how carefully he worded the following which is a pattern seen throughout his writings –

“Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, ³⁹ “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.” And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.” Luke 8:38, 39

Either Luke was making a point for us to read and understand, or he was an incompetent blasphemer. Next, Paul completely supports the deity and Godhood of Christ Jesus –

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” Colossians 1:15-17

In these verses, the JW’s NWT adds in the word “other” before the word “created” in both verses 16 and 17 – “He created all other things.” The word cannot even be inferred from the context, but more, it is incomprehensible and illogical to think that a created being could somehow “create all things,” or “all other things.”

The sixth First Principle, that of Contingency (or Dependency) disallows it. It says that “Contingent Being Cannot Cause Contingent Being.” This would lead to an infinite regress of causes which is disproved by Relativity.

Time, Space, and Matter came into existence simultaneously. The existence of each is dependent on the existence of all. And all are dependent on both a Creator and a Sustainer. The principle is undeniable. A contingent, or created being, cannot create or sustain anything else because it is already contingent.

In theology, 1+1 always equals 2, and Jesus is the eternal God. The writer of Hebrews makes the same claim as Paul concerning God’s sustaining power for the entire universe as being held in the Person of Christ Jesus –

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.” Hebrews 1:3

No matter what else, the deity of Jesus Christ is not only fully supportable by the text of the Bible, but it is the only logical and reasonable conclusion that we can come to. It is through Jesus that the Eternal God reveals Himself to us. And it is the Holy Spirit who will, if we allow Him, teach us the proper doctrine concerning the nature of God. This, through the word He breathed out to us.

By the Spirit I search out the things of God
Things gloriously breathed out for us to search and see
For all the days upon this earth as I trod
I shall seek my God as His Spirit lovingly guides me 

It is the word He has given, through men selected O so carefully
That I can see what God has done, even for one such as me
The words are given, and they are presented so beautifully
Marvelous things are hidden there for us to search and see 

Give us wisdom in Your word, O God
Help us find those things hidden away so secretly
Open the treasures of Your word as in this life we trod
May Your Spirit guide us as we search to see

V. The Third Member – God the Holy Spirit

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:6-8

In the Bible, the work of “begetting” sons is the job of the Father, but it is also the work of the Spirit. To attribute this to the Spirit, were it not the case, would be blasphemous.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses call the Spirit an “active force” – whatever that means. They have to make up a term for the Spirit which is completely unsupportable in order to diminish His proper role as the third member of the Godhead. But the Spirit is the One who searches the Godhead and reveals to us God’s workings –

“For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:11

Next, Paul – after talking about Christ (the Lord) – does a change-up and says in practically in the same breath…

“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” 2 Corinthians 3:17

Either Paul is completely confused theologically, or He is as clear as a crystal in his claim – Christ is the Lord, the Spirit is the Lord, and the Spirit is the “Spirit of the Lord.”

Numerous other examples of the workings of God the Spirit are found in both testaments of Scripture. They identify Him either implicitly or explicitly as God. Thus, the Bible reveals that there is one Godhead which then is expressed in three Persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each is God, but each expresses God to us in a different and yet understandable way.

As we finish today, please remember a few things. The first is that the Bible both implicitly and explicitly shows that each of these three Persons is God. As the Bible also says that there is only one God, then it must be that there is a Godhead comprised of them.

Secondly, just because we don’t fully understand a thing, it does not mean that such a thing does not exist. I don’t fully understand my wife, but I am quite certain she exists. It is illogical to make a claim that the Trinity is not possible simply because we cannot perfectly explain every point concerning it.

If you think it through, there is nothing that we can fully explain, even the composition of a single atom. We can explain it to some extent, but the further we look into it, we eventually break down in our ability to define all that comprises that one, single atom.

Third, as you heard today, there is a logical and acceptable model for the Trinity that we subsist in at every moment of our existence, Time. As this is so, and as it adequately reflects the Trinitarian model, we are not left completely excluded from understanding a principle that the Bible proclaims as true, but which is otherwise very complicated.

And fourth, a monad God has been proven impossible by simple logic as revealed in the First Principles. As a monad is not true, then a multiplicity within the Godhead must be true. That multiplicity is defined in the God of Scripture as not being 2, 5, 17, or 120, but 3 – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Such is God, and such is how we are to accept this revelation of Himself to us.

Surely, we praise our Creator – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! May you be blessed as you read the Word in the future, observing and accepting the Trinity. 

Closing Verse: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!” Isaiah 6:3