Was Jesus God?
During the thirty-some years Jesus dwelled here with us on the earth and in a natural body of flesh, was He also fully God?
Recently I posted a teaching on the fruits of the Spirit. Granted, it contained thoughts likely never heard or read by any of its readers. But I never expected the type of opposition to it which sprang forth. Some began to point out their understanding that Jesus had all the attributes of divinity during His entire life here in the flesh, and also that it would have been impossible for Him to sin as a result. They conclude with their doctrine that He was 100% God and 100% man (as if just the definition of each would not alone cancel out this possibility). I was taken by complete surprise, followed by total bewilderment as to how such a doctrine would be believed, much less mentioned in response to the subject of Spirit fruits.
Let me state something up-front: The main thesis of this writing is not really about such a doctrine. It will conclude with a statement for which, if I did not slowly lead up to it, would be easily whisked away without the reader seeing the all-too-encompassing significance of the issue. The fact is - and not in any way of melodrama or mere overstatement - as I can now understand in retrospect, the ensuing dialogue that took place between those who brought up the God/Jesus thing and myself in opposition, EPITOMIZED THE ENTIRE CHRISTIAN WALK.
Yes, it WOULD be true: if Jesus in the flesh DID have His full power since birth - and was not merely operating in both the supernatural manifested Wisdom of the Father and all the Graces available to be bestowed upon man when they receive the Baptism of the Holy Ghost - then He could not possibly sin, because God cannot sin.
However, Jesus had no such advantage.
I handled every single piece of "evidence" presented by those who proposed this possible Jesus was God doctrine, patiently and painstakingly proving from the Word that such was an impossible and erroneous dogma. To go into all of that here would muddle the waters from what was intended, so I will state here and now I will not respond in any way to those who will try and obliterate the truth intended to be conveyed here, by their bringing up all their stuff defending such a falsehood.
But I suppose I must offer something in a nutshell, in the chance the heart idols/little gods/hidden sins of someone may have been exposed, and they would will to follow this post with some lashing out because of their being challenged and the discomfort and unwillingness to yield natural to result from that.
James 1:13 tells us God cannot be tempted to SIN. We can know this speaks of sin, because elsewhere in the Word were told God WAS tempted, but in those instances it speaks of how he was tempted to react in a way He didnt want to. Then we have Heb.4:15 which testifies Jesus WAS tempted to sin. So if God cannot be tempted to sin, and we know Jesus was tempted to sin, then we can assume Jesus in the flesh was not God at the time.
Even the very definition of "tempt" tells us how ludicrous it would be to our intelligence to say Jesus was tempted but He could not sin. If it was impossible for Him to fall to the temptation, where was the enticement? Its only a temptation when someone is tempted, and someone cannot be tempted if there was no possibility of falling to the temptation. That IS the definition of "tempt."
Then, too, we have Jesus sweating great drops of Blood while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. Why was such anguish necessary if no chance of falling to sin was possible? The Word even says of us, "You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin" implying the purpose of Jesus fervent prayer. How ridiculous it would have been for Him to suffer so in agonizing prayer if any lesser response would have yielded the same sinless life, much less resistance to temptation. We could look, too, at the reason for Jesus 40 day wilderness fast for the same reason.
We also have the example of John the Baptist, who even before birth was filled with Gods Spirit. And similar to how Jesus was commissioned and empowered at the age of thirty or so to forgive sin, so too did John carry out the ordained work of his Father by baptizing for the remission of sins.
But all of this is bogging down the more important lesson and underlying thing of this doctrine.
The main reason for this writing is to answer the question: What should a Christian do once they are born-again, and what can they do.
The Word never commands the believer to do anything that God does not also make available the Graces needed to bring it about in someones life.
We who are Gods true children are commanded to imitate Christ, thereby carrying on His work.
Jesus was effective because He was given:
1) Divine Wisdom from heaven.
2) All nine, fully matured, fruits of the Spirit.
3) All nine supernatural gifts of the Spirit.
The non-charismatic is off the hook insofar as what I will now say (although whether or not the same is true in Gods eyes is between Him and them). "To whom much is given . . .."
The born-again child of God is required by the Word to do the works Jesus did by our committing to obtaining the same godly Wisdom and ripe manifestations of the nine fruits of the Spirit. Additionally, we are to seek and operate in however many of the nine spiritual gifts the Holy Ghost wills. (While Jesus had "not the Spirit by measure" and therefor assumably flowed in all nine gifts, 1Cor.12:11 says its up to the Holy Ghost in our case.)
All of the above is absolutely possible, and absolutely commanded and therefore required of us by God, because, apart from what was just stated concerning the nine gifts, the ONLY difference between Jesus in the flesh and us was: He was born with a pure heart.
(That was because of Jesus not inheriting an earthly fathers sins.)
And since the Word also bears witness to the fact we as Christians are commanded to "sanctify the Lord God in [our] hearts," and "purify [our] hearts," we can therefore know such a pure heart is both possible and expected of us as well.
The ONLY thing the Christian needs to do is pursue the manifestation of a pure heart. Period. ". . . [A]nd all these things shall [then] be added onto you." For a pure heart is the only different thing Jesus was born into this world with, and that is what we who are His true brethren must also obtain after we are reborn into this world, in order to grow into the similitude of Christ and then and therefore do the same or greater works of Him.
But of course, if you deny your responsibility to submit to the Word, you will likewise deny your responsibility to Christlikeness, and you will deny the commandment and possibility of obtaining a pure heart. The same could be, and perhaps more accurately should have been, said conversely.
". . . love the Lord your God with all your heart . . . [for] you shall have no other gods [or, idols of the heart; or, hidden sins of the heart] before Me . . . for I AM a jealous God . . . [and] you are bought with a [very precious] price, therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are Gods"
<brotherjim@mail.com>
All the above copyright 2002 by brother jim - may be freely shared without permission if this notice is included.
During the thirty-some years Jesus dwelled here with us on the earth and in a natural body of flesh, was He also fully God?
Recently I posted a teaching on the fruits of the Spirit. Granted, it contained thoughts likely never heard or read by any of its readers. But I never expected the type of opposition to it which sprang forth. Some began to point out their understanding that Jesus had all the attributes of divinity during His entire life here in the flesh, and also that it would have been impossible for Him to sin as a result. They conclude with their doctrine that He was 100% God and 100% man (as if just the definition of each would not alone cancel out this possibility). I was taken by complete surprise, followed by total bewilderment as to how such a doctrine would be believed, much less mentioned in response to the subject of Spirit fruits.
Let me state something up-front: The main thesis of this writing is not really about such a doctrine. It will conclude with a statement for which, if I did not slowly lead up to it, would be easily whisked away without the reader seeing the all-too-encompassing significance of the issue. The fact is - and not in any way of melodrama or mere overstatement - as I can now understand in retrospect, the ensuing dialogue that took place between those who brought up the God/Jesus thing and myself in opposition, EPITOMIZED THE ENTIRE CHRISTIAN WALK.
Yes, it WOULD be true: if Jesus in the flesh DID have His full power since birth - and was not merely operating in both the supernatural manifested Wisdom of the Father and all the Graces available to be bestowed upon man when they receive the Baptism of the Holy Ghost - then He could not possibly sin, because God cannot sin.
However, Jesus had no such advantage.
I handled every single piece of "evidence" presented by those who proposed this possible Jesus was God doctrine, patiently and painstakingly proving from the Word that such was an impossible and erroneous dogma. To go into all of that here would muddle the waters from what was intended, so I will state here and now I will not respond in any way to those who will try and obliterate the truth intended to be conveyed here, by their bringing up all their stuff defending such a falsehood.
But I suppose I must offer something in a nutshell, in the chance the heart idols/little gods/hidden sins of someone may have been exposed, and they would will to follow this post with some lashing out because of their being challenged and the discomfort and unwillingness to yield natural to result from that.
James 1:13 tells us God cannot be tempted to SIN. We can know this speaks of sin, because elsewhere in the Word were told God WAS tempted, but in those instances it speaks of how he was tempted to react in a way He didnt want to. Then we have Heb.4:15 which testifies Jesus WAS tempted to sin. So if God cannot be tempted to sin, and we know Jesus was tempted to sin, then we can assume Jesus in the flesh was not God at the time.
Even the very definition of "tempt" tells us how ludicrous it would be to our intelligence to say Jesus was tempted but He could not sin. If it was impossible for Him to fall to the temptation, where was the enticement? Its only a temptation when someone is tempted, and someone cannot be tempted if there was no possibility of falling to the temptation. That IS the definition of "tempt."
Then, too, we have Jesus sweating great drops of Blood while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. Why was such anguish necessary if no chance of falling to sin was possible? The Word even says of us, "You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin" implying the purpose of Jesus fervent prayer. How ridiculous it would have been for Him to suffer so in agonizing prayer if any lesser response would have yielded the same sinless life, much less resistance to temptation. We could look, too, at the reason for Jesus 40 day wilderness fast for the same reason.
We also have the example of John the Baptist, who even before birth was filled with Gods Spirit. And similar to how Jesus was commissioned and empowered at the age of thirty or so to forgive sin, so too did John carry out the ordained work of his Father by baptizing for the remission of sins.
But all of this is bogging down the more important lesson and underlying thing of this doctrine.
The main reason for this writing is to answer the question: What should a Christian do once they are born-again, and what can they do.
The Word never commands the believer to do anything that God does not also make available the Graces needed to bring it about in someones life.
We who are Gods true children are commanded to imitate Christ, thereby carrying on His work.
Jesus was effective because He was given:
1) Divine Wisdom from heaven.
2) All nine, fully matured, fruits of the Spirit.
3) All nine supernatural gifts of the Spirit.
The non-charismatic is off the hook insofar as what I will now say (although whether or not the same is true in Gods eyes is between Him and them). "To whom much is given . . .."
The born-again child of God is required by the Word to do the works Jesus did by our committing to obtaining the same godly Wisdom and ripe manifestations of the nine fruits of the Spirit. Additionally, we are to seek and operate in however many of the nine spiritual gifts the Holy Ghost wills. (While Jesus had "not the Spirit by measure" and therefor assumably flowed in all nine gifts, 1Cor.12:11 says its up to the Holy Ghost in our case.)
All of the above is absolutely possible, and absolutely commanded and therefore required of us by God, because, apart from what was just stated concerning the nine gifts, the ONLY difference between Jesus in the flesh and us was: He was born with a pure heart.
(That was because of Jesus not inheriting an earthly fathers sins.)
And since the Word also bears witness to the fact we as Christians are commanded to "sanctify the Lord God in [our] hearts," and "purify [our] hearts," we can therefore know such a pure heart is both possible and expected of us as well.
The ONLY thing the Christian needs to do is pursue the manifestation of a pure heart. Period. ". . . [A]nd all these things shall [then] be added onto you." For a pure heart is the only different thing Jesus was born into this world with, and that is what we who are His true brethren must also obtain after we are reborn into this world, in order to grow into the similitude of Christ and then and therefore do the same or greater works of Him.
But of course, if you deny your responsibility to submit to the Word, you will likewise deny your responsibility to Christlikeness, and you will deny the commandment and possibility of obtaining a pure heart. The same could be, and perhaps more accurately should have been, said conversely.
". . . love the Lord your God with all your heart . . . [for] you shall have no other gods [or, idols of the heart; or, hidden sins of the heart] before Me . . . for I AM a jealous God . . . [and] you are bought with a [very precious] price, therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are Gods"
<brotherjim@mail.com>
All the above copyright 2002 by brother jim - may be freely shared without permission if this notice is included.
- guess it did get a bit verbose (I actually was being terse - so many rabbits were let loose in the orig. post).
