Is Jesus God? Part 10: Scripture in Context- Acts

Acts

This book uniquely shows the beliefs of the early Church, how they presented the gospel, and what they believed was important. Acts is very helpful in determining what Luke, the author of the book, and his fellow Christians believed concerning Jesus’ deity.

1.     Acts 2:22-41

“’Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God, with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know – this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and knowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on the throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”’ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.’ Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’ And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord calls to himself. And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, ‘Save yourselves from this crooked generation. So those who received his word were baptized, and they were added that day about three thousand souls.”

If Jesus is God, why are God and Jesus distinct throughout the first sermon post the Church receiving the Holy Spirit? If Jesus’ deity was so significant, why didn’t Peter say “God the Father” and “God the Son” to clearly communicate the doctrine to those who did not know the gospel? If believing in the Trinity is necessary for salvation (as some hold), why didn’t Peter explicitly explain that in this sermon? Can believing in the Trinity be necessary if after this sermon, which specifically calls Jesus a “man” in verse 22, a descendant of the man David, but never explicitly God, resulted in three thousand souls saved?

God and Jesus, not the Father and Jesus, are distinct throughout the entire passage. Given that God is not a man (Hosea 11:9), and the passage begins with Jesus was a “man attested to you by God”, Jesus is not God. Based on this passage alone it did not seem like Peter thought Jesus was God.  Jesus is also seated at the right hand of God, so it seems he is not God himself as he cannot sit at the right hand of himself.

Again, believing in the Trinity must not be necessary for salvation if 3000 people were saved without mention of it. Further, if Jesus was God, knowledge of his deity would be very significant for the Jewish audience Peter preached to that believed in one God their whole life. Omission of this doctrine in the first sermon following Jesus’ resurrection at a minimum seems to indicate God does not think it is central to the gospel message, particularly given that 3000 people were saved.

If Jesus is God, why in verse 22 does Peter say God, clearly in this verse distinct from Jesus, did the mighty works and wonders and signs through Jesus? If Jesus is God, wouldn’t it make more sense for Jesus to have the power within himself to do the mighty works and wonders and signs and not need another source (God)?

God worked through Jesus, so I question how He could be Jesus. God by definition does not need another source outside of Himself to do mighty works, wonders, and signs. Given that Jesus does, I question how he can be God.

If Jesus is God, why did God make him both Lord and Christ (verse 36), indicating change [from not being Lord and Christ to being Lord and Christ], yet God does not change (Malachi 3:6)? Additionally, God is Lord (he always was, is, and who is to come, Revelation 1:8), and He does not need to be made Lord. He is who He is from eternity.

If Jesus is God, why is God versus Jesus described in this passage shown to have more power (particularly given the Trinity Doctrine that says the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are co-equal), as God, not Jesus, does the mighty works and wonders and signs – as He does them through Jesus (verse 22)?

Given that God and Jesus in this passage are not equal in power, as God has more power than Jesus and empowers him to do the works he does, it seems Jesus is not God. The Trinity doctrine maintains that God and Jesus must be equal. This conclusion comes from an understanding that part of “equality” is having the same power and independence. Even if Trinitarians would define equality differently and maintain somehow that God and Jesus are equal, God by definition is omnipotent and independent, and Jesus is not. He is dependent on God for his power.

2.     Acts 3:12-26

^“And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? ¹³ The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. ¹⁴ But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, ¹⁵ and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. ¹⁶ And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.”

Peter does not believe that the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the God of his fathers, is Jesus. He clearly sees them as distinct. It is that God who glorified “his servant Jesus”. Yet the Trinity Doctrine maintains that Jesus is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Also, Jesus was not always glorified, but God has had His glory for eternity. God is not a servant. He (graciously) has servants. God is the One served.

Jesus is the Holy and Righteous One, the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. Here again we see that Peter is explaining that God raised Jesus, who is not God, from the dead.

¹⁷ “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. ¹⁸ But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. ¹⁹ Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, ²⁰ that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, ²¹ whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. ²² Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. ²³ And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ ²⁴ And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. ²⁵ You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ ²⁶ God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

Peter continues, completely affirming that Jesus is not God. God is the one who foretold through the prophets about “his Christ”, Jesus. He was the one who fulfilled those prophecies. He is the one who will send the Christ appointed, Jesus, when it is time to restore all things. God is sovereignly acting through Jesus’ life, predicting it and fulfilling it. Jesus is not God.

This is further emphasized through Peter’s acknowledgement that Jesus is a prophet that the Lord God raised up that we should listen to. Jesus is distinct from the Lord God and is the prophet the Lord God raised up, so he cannot himself be the Lord God. Prophets are not God, they are messengers of God. Jesus is not God.

3.     Acts 4:24-31

^“And when they [believers] heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, ²⁵ who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,

“‘Why did the Gentiles rage,    and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves,    and the rulers were gathered together,    against the Lord and against his Anointed’—

²⁷ for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, ²⁸ to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. ²⁹ And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, ³⁰ while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” ³¹ And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”

God is the Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, not Jesus. This is confirmed in verse 27, as the believers are praying to this Sovereign Lord and affirm that the city is “gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.” The first believers do NOT believe that Jesus is God or the Sovereign Lord. They believe that Jesus is God’s holy servant who was anointed. As I have already pointed out, God does not need to be anointed. If Jesus was anointed by God, he cannot be God. He certainly is not in a Trinity, having oneness with the Holy Spirit forever. Jesus did not receive the Holy Spirit till he was 30 years old, and every gospel affirms that.

The result of this prayer, that these believers prayed clearly affirming that Jesus is not God, was that they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is not God.

4.     Acts 5:27-32

^“And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, ²⁸ saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.” ²⁹ But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. ³⁰ The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. ³¹ God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. ³² And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Peter and the apostles do not believe that Jesus is God. They believe that the “God of our fathers” is distinct from Jesus. The “God of our fathers”, who the Jews know to be one God, exalted Jesus as Leader and Savior. God does not need to be exalted as Leader and Savior, because that is already who He is.

Jesus is not God, and the Trinity doctrine is false. Again, if you believe in God in 3 persons, you must believe that the “God of our fathers” is that Trinitarian God. Yet, this Trinitarian God raised Jesus, who is supposed to be part of that Trinity, from the dead and exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior. This does not make sense if Jesus is the "God of our fathers". Jesus is not God.

5.     Acts 7:54-56

^“Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

Stephen, the first martyr, has just given witness and is about to be stoned to death. He did not believe that Jesus is God. He saw him standing at the right hand of God. If Jesus is at the right hand OF God, he is not God; that does not make sense.

Acts shows throughout that one does not need to believe Jesus is God to be saved, which is a lie in Christendom that has hurt many people even to the point of death, like Michael Servetus (explained in Is Jesus God? Part 3: History's Witness- Is the Trinity Doctrine true?).

6.     Acts 9:20

“And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’”

Paul, upon his conversion, immediately preaches Jesus in the synagogues with the message that he is the Son of God – NOT that he is God. The center of the Christian message is NOT Jesus’ deity. The message concerning Christ is that he is the Son of the God, i.e., the Messiah, the Christ, our Savior, who reconciled the world to God.

Paul did not believe that Jesus is God, and as such did not believe that to be central in any way to the gospel message. This is evident throughout his epistles.

7.     Acts 10:34-44

^“So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, ³⁵ but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. ³⁶ As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), ³⁷ you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: ³⁸ how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. ³⁹ And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, ⁴⁰ but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, ⁴¹ not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴² And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³ To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”⁴⁴ While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.”

 Peter continues to demonstrate that he does not believe that Jesus is God, rather, he believes they are distinct and Jesus is a man. God was the one, Peter describes in verse 36, who worked through Jesus Christ, so, God is not Jesus, he worked through Jesus. Further, in verse 38, God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and with power. God inherently has the Holy Spirit and power and does not need anointing, so Jesus is not God. He is a man that needs the anointing of God like any other man. What is more, Peter says that Jesus was able to do the works he did because “God was with him”. This proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Peter does not think that Jesus is God himself. God is the source of Jesus’ strength and power. God was with Jesus. Jesus is not God.

Peter also notes that God was the one who raised him from the dead and made him appear to the people God has chosen. God is again shown to be the sovereign Actor in the events surrounding Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

Finally, Jesus, in verse 42, was appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead. God does not need to be appointed to be the judge. God is automatically the Judge as God. But, Jesus was appointed by God. He had to be because he is not God himself.

Peter, and Luke, the writer of Acts, certainly do not believe Jesus is God.

8.     Acts 13:22-23

^“And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ ²³ Of this man's offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.”

According to Paul, who said these words, Jesus is not God. God brought Israel a Savior, Jesus, who He promised.

Even if you consider God being Triune, it makes no sense to say that the Triune God brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, if Jesus is part of the Triune God. What is more, in the context Jesus is being emphasized as a man. He is the offspring of David. As discussed before, God is not a man (Hosea 11:9). He is Spirit (John 4:24).

9.     Acts 17:22-31

^“So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. ²³ For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. ²⁴ The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, ²⁵ nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. ²⁶ And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, ²⁷ that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, ²⁸ for

“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;

as even some of your own poets have said,

“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

²⁹ Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. ³⁰ The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, ³¹ because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Paul does not believe that Jesus is God. He describes God, who created everything, and does not need anything, as He is the One who gives mankind everything. Jesus, in contrast, could do nothing apart from the Father. This God is the One who in verse 31 Paul says appointed a man who will judge the world, which of course is talking about Jesus. God and Jesus are distinct. Jesus does not have the qualities of God such as omnipotence and autonomy. Jesus had to be appointed to be a judge, he was not inherently a judge as he is not God. God would not need to be appointed as judge by anyone because He as God already is the judge.

Jesus is not God.

10.  Acts 18:28

“…for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.” 

This is referring to the preaching of Apollos. I share this verse to emphasize that the first Christians were not proclaiming that Jesus was God. They were proclaiming the gospel, that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ, and the Son of God, who reconciled us to God.

11.  Acts 22:6-16

 “As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. ⁷ And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ ⁸ And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ ⁹ Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me. ¹⁰ And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’ ¹¹ And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.

¹² “And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, ¹³ came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him. ¹⁴ And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; ¹⁵ for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’

When Paul shares his testimony and conversion, he says in verse 14 that “The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth…” The Righteous One is referring to Jesus. The God of our fathers is distinct again from Jesus, so Jesus cannot be the God of our fathers, and Paul does not believe so. If Jesus is not the God of our fathers, the Trinity doctrine is false, as the doctrine holds that Jesus is the God of the Old Testament.

12.  Acts 24:14

“But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, having a hope in God…”

Paul worships the “God of our fathers”, the God of the Old Testament. He never indicates this God is Jesus, and he makes that clear in his letters.

13.  Acts 20:28

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.”

If Jesus isn’t God, why does this verse indicate God obtained the church with his own blood?

Some translations read “the church of the Lord” instead of the “church of God”. Nowhere in the Bible is it shown that God has blood. This could also be translated “the blood of His own Son” or “the blood of his own one”.

(Common Verses, 2010)

Conclusion: There is 0 evidence in Acts that Jesus is God. This is especially noteworthy as Acts tells the story and preaching of the first Christians, most notably Peter and Paul.