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Does one have to believe that Jesus Christ is God in order to be saved?
"For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but [ONE GOD, the Father], of whom are all things, and we in him; and [ONE LORD Jesus Christ], by whom are all things, and we by him." (1 Corinthians 8:5-6)
The problem with many theologians who do not know how to rightly defend the DEITY of Jesus Christ has to do with the title "GOD." Many Unitarians assume that if there are passages in scripture that does not definitively say that Jesus is GOD -- then He cannot be God. What they need to rightly understand is that both the titles "GOD" and "LORD" are both titles of DEITY. Whether Jesus is referred to as God or Lord does not change the fact that He is still DEITY (three Co-equal, Co-eternal persons -- who are "ONE BEING"). I suppose anyone can take scripture out of context and use 1 Corinthians 8:5-6 in an effort to prove that the Father cannot be LORD since it clearly reads that Jesus is the ONE LORD. The titles "Lord" and "God" are used to draw a distinction between the two persons of the Godhead mentioned in that passage -- but both are DEITY.
"And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The [Lord] our [God] is [one] Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment." (Mark 12:29-30)
We also find that Romans 10:13 is quoting Joel 2:32; and that the word for Lord in that verse is YHVH. Paul is clearly using the word "Lord" here (kyrios) and throughout the context without any distinction. I find it a bit odd that Unitarians use this verse to prove that Jesus was somehow NOT Lord -- it would certainly be my suspicion that any "Unitarian" bent on undermining the True Christian faith. Compliments to any true believer that are not shaken, so packing with no valid argument to make in defense -- which is why any Unitarian has to resort to canned arguments that don't apply.
Please keep in mind that such individuals never admit defeat. They are not looking for the truth. Rather, knowing in their heart of hearts that they have believed the lie, they are looking to convert others to it. In a perverse sort of way, they feel (even if they do not understand the mechanics consciously) that by convincing others they have thereby validated their own departure from the truth -- as if the doctrine's of God were based upon a popularity contest! This was exactly how the devil reasoned, thinking that if he could get enough fallen angels to follow him, God would be unable to condemn him. That hasn't worked out for Satan either, and it won't work out for any and all who have committed themselves to oppose the truth because for whatever reason they find it uncomfortable and are unwilling to accept it.
"But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness." (1st Timothy 6:11)
It says at Acts 16:31, "what must I do to be saved", "believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved". First, while I am absolutely correct in my understanding of these matters, I would wish to point out that to be saved a person has to have actual faith in Jesus Christ -- the real Jesus Christ. If a person is not ready to believe who and what Jesus is, or if a person is not willing to accept that He died for our sins, then that person does not have true faith, that is, not any kind of faith that will save. To be saved a person has to be willing to respond to the Spirit's testimony about the Person of Jesus and the work of Jesus. The work of Jesus is His death for our sins, His actual expiation of all we have ever done or will that is sinful, His death in the darkness wherein He paid the actual penalty for all these sins and for the sins of the entire world. Now a person who is just hearing about this for the first time and who wants to be saved need not have detailed theological understanding of every single point of soteriology in order to be saved -- it is enough to know and accept that Jesus died for us in our place.
"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24)
But if a person accepts the fact of the existence of Jesus and even the crucifixion of Jesus but is nevertheless unwilling to rely on Jesus' atoning death for salvation, whether a person thinks he/she doesn't really need a Savior or thinks some works he/she does are sufficient, that is not faith, that does not result in salvation. Similarly, it is possible to be saved without understanding all of the details of the doctrines of the Trinity, the virgin birth, the doctrines of kenosis and the hypostatic union (the Person of Christ). What is "not" possible is to have an active "disbelief" about the Person of Christ and still have saving faith. If a person believes that Jesus was NOT also a genuine human being, that person does not have saving faith. I want to make this crystal clear that Mary is NOT the Mother of God. The argument that Mary is the Mother of God because Jesus is God can only come from someone who does NOT understand the BASIC doctrine of the Kenosis; i.e., Jesus is BOTH God and Man. Since Jesus has a *dual nature* of BOTH God and Man; Mary (Jesus' Mother) is the Mother of Jesus the [MAN] -- NOT the Mother of Jesus as [GOD].
And if a person disbelieves that Jesus is TRULY God, that person does not have saving faith, or the real questions here are 1) what is the truth? and 2) do you believe Unitarians quibble about the passages I have very correctly quoted are entirely beside the point for the main issue, namely, how is a person saved? Jesus is the God-man. It is possible not to understand everything about that and be saved; it is not possible to hard-heartedly "deny" Jesus' humanity or deity or wondrous combination of the two natures in One unique Person and still be saved. Because regardless of what sort of "spin" a person might want to put on any number of passages that teach these truths, they are the truth.
The Bible makes it crystal clear that those who deny the Deity of Jesus Christ are NOT saved. Such "self-professed Christians" are under the delusion that they KNOW the God of Scripture and are on their way to Heaven; when the Word of God proves that such men and women are children of the Wrath to come. A good example of such religious Unitarian men and women who are self-deceived are the Jehovahs' Witnesses and proponents of Arianism. The Word of God cannot be any CLEARER that those who possess the Holy Spirit will GLORIFY Jesus Christ; and JW's and those who deny Jesus' Deity do just the OPPOSITE by making Him a mere mortal and a created being. This is an insult and dishonorable to the Godhead, and it is the evil one who has placed such dishonorable, wicked, and dastardly thoughts into the hearts and minds of such men and women who are deceiving and self-deceived. And the Scriptures clearly teach that those who DO NOT *possess* the Holy Spirit are NOT SAVED (2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:14; 4:30).
"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. HE SHALL [GLORIFY] ME: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you." (John 16:13-14)
So when the gospel is heard, it is the Spirit who is making that truth real to the heart of the hearer -- and if the hearer rejects that truth, that person is rejecting not you or me . . . that person is rejecting God and His truth, and that person is not saved through so doing. The Greek word "kyrios" is in fact the standard way to represent the Hebrew tetragrammaton YHVH. And while the word can have the mundane meaning (i.e., "lord" as well as "LORD"), the context of Romans 10:9-10 certainly shows that I am correct in my understanding and representation of this passage. After all, it is by confessing Jesus as "Lord" that we are saved. So clearly we are recognizing Him "as" something/someone special in recognizing Him as "kyrios"-- and this can only mean recognizing Him as "Lord" in the sense of being God. Jesus was the One who created the universe at the Father's command -- and to do so He would have had to have existed "before" the universe, something only possible for God.
The JW's respond to this verse by saying that Jesus was not ALWAYS Lord because He was "MADE" Lord. Here is a passage in Luke which aptly proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that Jesus was ALREADY LORD at His conception.
"And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that [THE MOTHER OF MY LORD] should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy." (Luke 1:41-44)
Also, many do not understand what it means when the bible says that Jesus was "made Lord" -- and they can be mislead by false teachers who misinterpret that passage. After all, kyrios, "Lord", in this context is definitely a reference to the Tetragrammaton, YHVH. This is the Greek equivalent for that Hebrew word. So this is even more emphatic than "made Him God" would be -- and clearly no one can be "made [into] God" or "made [into] LORD YHVH" -- there is only one God and only one YHVH (in three Persons):
"One Lord [kyrios / YHVH], one faith, one baptism," (Ephesians 4:5)
The Greek verb poieo is being used here in the sense of to "appoint" or "make manifest as" or "confirm as". It is a generic verb that is often used in periphrases, and that is what is to be understood here as well. So "made" also means "confirmed as" Lord and Christ -- because the Father did so through the resurrection. The resurrection and subsequent ascension and session are the means of this confirmation, and that is what Peter had just said in the verses immediately preceding:
Here is the EXACT rendering of Acts 2:36 from the original Greek so there is NO dispute.
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath [made] the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, [both Lord and Christ]." (Acts 2:36)
I love the eloquence of the The King James bible, but if I were to preach a sermon to a mixed crowd, I would give my exposition of that verse by saying: "It is through [these actions] that the Father "made Jesus [known as or confirmed] both Lord and Messiah"
In Closing:
"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee [the only true God], and [Jesus Christ], whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3)
Eternal here refers to both a QUALITY and DURATION of life; which is being spoken of here by our Lord Jesus. It will take an ETERNITY to know both God and the Lord Jesus Christ; and this is indicative of their ETERNALITY (an attribute of DEITY).
"I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am (Grk. "ego eimi"; i.e., "I AM") [he], YE SHALL DIE IN YOUR SINS." (John 8:24)
God Bless!
"For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but [ONE GOD, the Father], of whom are all things, and we in him; and [ONE LORD Jesus Christ], by whom are all things, and we by him." (1 Corinthians 8:5-6)
The problem with many theologians who do not know how to rightly defend the DEITY of Jesus Christ has to do with the title "GOD." Many Unitarians assume that if there are passages in scripture that does not definitively say that Jesus is GOD -- then He cannot be God. What they need to rightly understand is that both the titles "GOD" and "LORD" are both titles of DEITY. Whether Jesus is referred to as God or Lord does not change the fact that He is still DEITY (three Co-equal, Co-eternal persons -- who are "ONE BEING"). I suppose anyone can take scripture out of context and use 1 Corinthians 8:5-6 in an effort to prove that the Father cannot be LORD since it clearly reads that Jesus is the ONE LORD. The titles "Lord" and "God" are used to draw a distinction between the two persons of the Godhead mentioned in that passage -- but both are DEITY.
"And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The [Lord] our [God] is [one] Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment." (Mark 12:29-30)
We also find that Romans 10:13 is quoting Joel 2:32; and that the word for Lord in that verse is YHVH. Paul is clearly using the word "Lord" here (kyrios) and throughout the context without any distinction. I find it a bit odd that Unitarians use this verse to prove that Jesus was somehow NOT Lord -- it would certainly be my suspicion that any "Unitarian" bent on undermining the True Christian faith. Compliments to any true believer that are not shaken, so packing with no valid argument to make in defense -- which is why any Unitarian has to resort to canned arguments that don't apply.
Please keep in mind that such individuals never admit defeat. They are not looking for the truth. Rather, knowing in their heart of hearts that they have believed the lie, they are looking to convert others to it. In a perverse sort of way, they feel (even if they do not understand the mechanics consciously) that by convincing others they have thereby validated their own departure from the truth -- as if the doctrine's of God were based upon a popularity contest! This was exactly how the devil reasoned, thinking that if he could get enough fallen angels to follow him, God would be unable to condemn him. That hasn't worked out for Satan either, and it won't work out for any and all who have committed themselves to oppose the truth because for whatever reason they find it uncomfortable and are unwilling to accept it.
"But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness." (1st Timothy 6:11)
It says at Acts 16:31, "what must I do to be saved", "believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved". First, while I am absolutely correct in my understanding of these matters, I would wish to point out that to be saved a person has to have actual faith in Jesus Christ -- the real Jesus Christ. If a person is not ready to believe who and what Jesus is, or if a person is not willing to accept that He died for our sins, then that person does not have true faith, that is, not any kind of faith that will save. To be saved a person has to be willing to respond to the Spirit's testimony about the Person of Jesus and the work of Jesus. The work of Jesus is His death for our sins, His actual expiation of all we have ever done or will that is sinful, His death in the darkness wherein He paid the actual penalty for all these sins and for the sins of the entire world. Now a person who is just hearing about this for the first time and who wants to be saved need not have detailed theological understanding of every single point of soteriology in order to be saved -- it is enough to know and accept that Jesus died for us in our place.
"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24)
But if a person accepts the fact of the existence of Jesus and even the crucifixion of Jesus but is nevertheless unwilling to rely on Jesus' atoning death for salvation, whether a person thinks he/she doesn't really need a Savior or thinks some works he/she does are sufficient, that is not faith, that does not result in salvation. Similarly, it is possible to be saved without understanding all of the details of the doctrines of the Trinity, the virgin birth, the doctrines of kenosis and the hypostatic union (the Person of Christ). What is "not" possible is to have an active "disbelief" about the Person of Christ and still have saving faith. If a person believes that Jesus was NOT also a genuine human being, that person does not have saving faith. I want to make this crystal clear that Mary is NOT the Mother of God. The argument that Mary is the Mother of God because Jesus is God can only come from someone who does NOT understand the BASIC doctrine of the Kenosis; i.e., Jesus is BOTH God and Man. Since Jesus has a *dual nature* of BOTH God and Man; Mary (Jesus' Mother) is the Mother of Jesus the [MAN] -- NOT the Mother of Jesus as [GOD].
And if a person disbelieves that Jesus is TRULY God, that person does not have saving faith, or the real questions here are 1) what is the truth? and 2) do you believe Unitarians quibble about the passages I have very correctly quoted are entirely beside the point for the main issue, namely, how is a person saved? Jesus is the God-man. It is possible not to understand everything about that and be saved; it is not possible to hard-heartedly "deny" Jesus' humanity or deity or wondrous combination of the two natures in One unique Person and still be saved. Because regardless of what sort of "spin" a person might want to put on any number of passages that teach these truths, they are the truth.
The Bible makes it crystal clear that those who deny the Deity of Jesus Christ are NOT saved. Such "self-professed Christians" are under the delusion that they KNOW the God of Scripture and are on their way to Heaven; when the Word of God proves that such men and women are children of the Wrath to come. A good example of such religious Unitarian men and women who are self-deceived are the Jehovahs' Witnesses and proponents of Arianism. The Word of God cannot be any CLEARER that those who possess the Holy Spirit will GLORIFY Jesus Christ; and JW's and those who deny Jesus' Deity do just the OPPOSITE by making Him a mere mortal and a created being. This is an insult and dishonorable to the Godhead, and it is the evil one who has placed such dishonorable, wicked, and dastardly thoughts into the hearts and minds of such men and women who are deceiving and self-deceived. And the Scriptures clearly teach that those who DO NOT *possess* the Holy Spirit are NOT SAVED (2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:14; 4:30).
"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. HE SHALL [GLORIFY] ME: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you." (John 16:13-14)
So when the gospel is heard, it is the Spirit who is making that truth real to the heart of the hearer -- and if the hearer rejects that truth, that person is rejecting not you or me . . . that person is rejecting God and His truth, and that person is not saved through so doing. The Greek word "kyrios" is in fact the standard way to represent the Hebrew tetragrammaton YHVH. And while the word can have the mundane meaning (i.e., "lord" as well as "LORD"), the context of Romans 10:9-10 certainly shows that I am correct in my understanding and representation of this passage. After all, it is by confessing Jesus as "Lord" that we are saved. So clearly we are recognizing Him "as" something/someone special in recognizing Him as "kyrios"-- and this can only mean recognizing Him as "Lord" in the sense of being God. Jesus was the One who created the universe at the Father's command -- and to do so He would have had to have existed "before" the universe, something only possible for God.
The JW's respond to this verse by saying that Jesus was not ALWAYS Lord because He was "MADE" Lord. Here is a passage in Luke which aptly proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that Jesus was ALREADY LORD at His conception.
"And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that [THE MOTHER OF MY LORD] should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy." (Luke 1:41-44)
Also, many do not understand what it means when the bible says that Jesus was "made Lord" -- and they can be mislead by false teachers who misinterpret that passage. After all, kyrios, "Lord", in this context is definitely a reference to the Tetragrammaton, YHVH. This is the Greek equivalent for that Hebrew word. So this is even more emphatic than "made Him God" would be -- and clearly no one can be "made [into] God" or "made [into] LORD YHVH" -- there is only one God and only one YHVH (in three Persons):
"One Lord [kyrios / YHVH], one faith, one baptism," (Ephesians 4:5)
The Greek verb poieo is being used here in the sense of to "appoint" or "make manifest as" or "confirm as". It is a generic verb that is often used in periphrases, and that is what is to be understood here as well. So "made" also means "confirmed as" Lord and Christ -- because the Father did so through the resurrection. The resurrection and subsequent ascension and session are the means of this confirmation, and that is what Peter had just said in the verses immediately preceding:
Here is the EXACT rendering of Acts 2:36 from the original Greek so there is NO dispute.
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath [made] the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, [both Lord and Christ]." (Acts 2:36)
I love the eloquence of the The King James bible, but if I were to preach a sermon to a mixed crowd, I would give my exposition of that verse by saying: "It is through [these actions] that the Father "made Jesus [known as or confirmed] both Lord and Messiah"
In Closing:
"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee [the only true God], and [Jesus Christ], whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3)
Eternal here refers to both a QUALITY and DURATION of life; which is being spoken of here by our Lord Jesus. It will take an ETERNITY to know both God and the Lord Jesus Christ; and this is indicative of their ETERNALITY (an attribute of DEITY).
"I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am (Grk. "ego eimi"; i.e., "I AM") [he], YE SHALL DIE IN YOUR SINS." (John 8:24)
God Bless!
