THE
DEITY
OF CHRIST
These resources have been compiled to answer questions about the triune nature of God, which we refer to as the Trinity. The mystery of one God with a Triune Nature but not three Gods or three "modes of being" is a doctrine that requires exploration. If you have any questions, please contact us! Feel free to share this page or download/print the PDF below.
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There is no atonement for sins if Jesus is not God. If He was less than deity, He would need God to die for His sins, because only an infinitely sinless Being can die for our sins.
For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. - Romans 8:20-21 (NIV)
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Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. - Acts 20:28 (NIV)
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If Jesus isn’t God, then we are not brought back into fellowship with God, since only God can join us to Himself.
I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. - Jn 17:11 (NIV)
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I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— - Jn 17:22 (NIV)​
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Only God forgives sins, but Jesus forgave sins.
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. - Micah 7:18 (NIV)
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See also Mark 2:1-12 (NIV).
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The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” - Lk 5:21 (NIV)
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But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” - Lk 5:24 (NIV)
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Only God is to be worshipped, but Jesus accepted worship.
...that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him. - John 5:23 (NIV)
And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
- Hebrews 1:6 (NIV)
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See also Revelation 5:8-14.
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Jesus is referred to as Yahweh.
The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary; but for both houses of Israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare. - Isaiah 8:13-14 (NIV) [cf. Ro. 9:33]
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A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. - Isaiah 40:3 (NIV) [cf. Philippians 2:10-11]
By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone are deliverance and strength.’”
All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame. - Isaiah 45:23-24 (NIV)
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“This is what the Lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. - Isaiah 44:6
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“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior. - Jeremiah 23:5-6 (NIV)
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And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls. - Joel 2:32 (NIV) [cf. Ro. 10:13])
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The Bible calls Jesus God or deity.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. - John 1:1-3 (NIV)
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“I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” - John 8:58 (NIV)
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Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” - John 20:28 (NIV)
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Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. - Romans 9:5 (NIV)
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Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped… - Philippians 2:5-6 (NIV)
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For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form… - Colossians 2:9 (NIV)
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For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ… - Titus 2:11-13 (NIV)
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But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom…” - Hebrews 1:8 (NIV)
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It means that we should avoid supporting those groups that deny
the deity of Christ (e.g. Jehovah’s Witnesses, The Way
International, Islam, etc.).
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” - Acts 4:12 (NIV)
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Since Jesus is God, He should be Lord of our lives.
“And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all.” - Acts 19:26 (NIV)
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That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. - Romans 10:9-10 (NIV)
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Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. - 1 Corinthians 12:3 (NIV)
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“…that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” - Philippians 2:10-11 (NIV)
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How can I learn more?
Below are video resources on the deity of Christ:
The Christian View of God's Nature: The Deity of Christ
Run Time: 1 hour, 54 minutes and 45 seconds
Sermon begins: 1:00:00
The Christian View of God's Nature: The Trinity
Dr. Randy Colver
Run Time: 1 hour, 35 minutes and 51 seconds
Sermon begins: 1:02:26