3-Who is Jesus?

This article summarizes the cumulative answer to the question “Who is Jesus?” from my study of every book of the New Testament. Few questions are more important to Christianity than this one. Who is Jesus? The New Testament gives Jesus an extraordinary number of titles and roles. He is the Christ, Son of God, Son of Man, Lord, Savior, King, prophet, servant, mediator, High Priest, Lamb of God, image of God, head of the Church, judge, and much more. But after studying

Before presenting my biblical case concerning Jesus, I think it is important to begin with history. For many Christians, the belief that Jesus is God is not experienced merely as one interpretation of Scripture; it is closely connected with Christian orthodoxy itself and with nearly seventeen centuries of creedal tradition. That history deserves to be taken seriously. At the same time, the historical record is more complicated than the impression that Christians simply posses

I was born into a Christian family with amazing parents. I became a Christian at five years old after my dad shared the gospel with me. Before addressing the question “Is Jesus God?”, I want to begin with something far more important: the gospel itself. Whatever conclusions I reach in this study, Jesus Christ is our Savior, Lord, Messiah, and King. The gospel—the “good news”—is the message through which God saves humanity from sin and death and reconciles us to Himself. T

Before examining the biblical arguments concerning whether Jesus is God, it is helpful to understand some basic terminology and history surrounding the doctrine of the Trinity and the development of orthodox Christian teaching about Jesus. 1. What is the Trinity? The doctrine of the Trinity teaches that there is one God who eternally exists as three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; y

This section demonstrates that God is inherently logical and that we should use logic when studying theology. Affirming that God is logical is essential for determining whether God has revealed that Jesus is God and that God is three in one. “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord.” (Isaiah 1:18) In context, God is calling Israel to reason with Him concerning their sin and the possibility of cleansing. At minimum, this shows that reason is not opposed to faith. G

If Jesus is God, why does Scripture repeatedly describe God and Jesus in ways that appear incompatible with one another? God does not contradict Himself or who He reveals Himself to be. Scripture says that God does not change, cannot be tempted, knows everything, needs nothing, is invisible, and is the God whom others worship. Yet Scripture says that Jesus grew and learned, was tempted, did not know everything, depended upon God, was visible, worshipped God, prayed to God

Jesus is worthy of extraordinary honor. He is God’s Son, Messiah, Savior, Lord, King, Lamb, and the human being whom God has exalted above every other. Scripture calls Christians to love him, follow him, obey him, confess him as Lord, and give him glory and honor. Revelation portrays heaven itself singing his praise. I do not believe recognizing that Jesus is not God should diminish any of this. If anything, I believe it allows us to honor Jesus for who Scripture actually

Before asking what individual New Testament verses may mean about Jesus, I think we should first ask a more basic question: What picture of the Messiah did the Old Testament itself establish? Was Israel told to expect Yahweh Himself to become the Messiah? Or was the Messiah presented as a human being whom Yahweh would raise up, empower, establish, and exalt? This matters because the New Testament did not appear in a vacuum. Jesus and his earliest followers were Jews w

One of the most important textual questions in the Gospel of Luke occurs in a verse most Christians probably have never thought was disputed. Most modern Bibles read Luke 3:22 something like this: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” But an ancient alternative reading says something significantly different: “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.” Those words come directly from Psalm 2:7. The difference is not minor. If the familiar reading

This article begins a five-part cumulative examination of the New Testament evidence I marked in my Study Bible under the question, “Is Jesus God?” The purpose is not merely to answer individual passages commonly used to argue that Jesus is God, but to ask what portrait of Jesus emerges when the relevant passages are read together and in the context of each book. Before turning to those disputed passages, I want to be clear about the view of Jesus that I believe Matthew, Ma

This article continues the cumulative examination of the major New Testament passages I marked in my Study Bible under the question, “Is Jesus God?” Part 1 considered the Synoptic Gospels; Part 2 turns to the Gospel of John. John contains many of the passages most frequently used to argue that Jesus is God. For that reason, I do not think the best way to approach John is to begin with a handful of famous proof texts and ask if they prove Jesus' deity or not. Before considerin

Parts 1 and 2 examined the major Gospel passages I marked in my New Testament Study Bible under the question, “Is Jesus God?” This article continues that cumulative examination through Acts and the letters of Paul. But before turning to the individual proof-texts, I want to begin with the larger and more basic question: What do Acts and Paul actually say, positively and repeatedly, about who Jesus is? I think this is the best place to begin because a Christology should not

This article continues the cumulative New Testament examination by turning to Hebrews and the later letters represented in my Study Bible proof-text discussions: James, 2 Peter, 1 John, and Jude. But before beginning with the difficult verses, I want to begin somewhere more basic and, I believe, more important: Who do these books positively and repeatedly say Jesus is? I think that question should establish the framework. A Christology should not be built first from a small

This final article completes the cumulative New Testament examination by turning to Revelation and then to the broader theological arguments often used to reconcile the biblical evidence with the doctrine that Jesus is God. But before beginning with the disputed titles, throne scenes, worship passages, or the Hypostatic Union, I want to begin with a more basic question: Who does Revelation positively and repeatedly say Jesus is? I think that question should establish th

Introduction I was taught, as virtually all Christians are, that Jesus never sinned at any point in his life. Growing up as a Christian, I accepted this without question. Eventually, however, several Gospel passages began troubling me—not because I wanted to find fault with Jesus, but because I was trying to apply the moral standards of Scripture consistently. When I also noticed that Hebrews says Jesus learned obedience and was made perfect through suffering, I began ask

But doesn’t the Bible explicitly say Jesus was sinless? Yes. Several New Testament passages describe Jesus as “without sin,” say that he “committed no sin,” describe him as one who “knew no sin,” or present him as “without blemish.” I believe these passages. My question is whether they explicitly establish lifelong moral flawlessness from birth, or whether they can truthfully describe the extraordinarily righteous, holy, and perfected Jesus even if his earlier human d

Introduction: Why Did Jesus Have to Die? Why did Jesus have to die? For much of my Christian life, I would have answered something like this: Human beings sinned. God is just. Our sins deserve punishment. Because God's justice requires sin to be punished, the punishment had to fall somewhere. Jesus received the punishment we deserved in our place. Those who put their faith in Jesus therefore escape that punishment and are forgiven. There are important biblical truths

Throughout this section, I have argued that Jesus is not Almighty God. He is God’s Son. He is the Messiah. He is Lord. He is the one whom God anointed with the Holy Spirit and power. He is the one through whom God worked miracles, spoke His words, revealed His character, defeated death, and opened the way to eternal life. He is the human being whom God raised from the dead and exalted above every other human being. For some Christians, however, one question may remain: If

I began this section with a question that has shaped Christianity for nearly two thousand years: Who is Jesus? I have now examined this question from many directions. I have considered the passages traditionally used to support Jesus' deity. I have examined Jesus' titles. His miracles. His authority. His relationship to creation. The praise and honor given to him. The Gospel of John. Paul. Colossians. Philippians. Hebrews. Revelation. And through

I have been asked whether I think believing Jesus is God, if he is not, is a salvation issue, so I think this is important to address. I believe the Church, overall, has been mistaken concerning Jesus’ deity. I was mistaken about Jesus’ deity for most of my life as well. Yet the Trinitarian Christians I know have an incredible heart for God. In my experience, they sincerely love Him, want to obey Him, and want to understand His Word correctly. I do not believe their hearts