Basic Christianity
Jesus Is God

The reason creeds like The Apostle's Creed were created was to combat heresy. By defining the indisputable basics, they make it clear what is and is not Christianity. This did not make the heresies go away, it just made a counterfeit of Christianity easier for actual Christians to spot and avoid. Yet people still fall for these heresies. People reasoning with their limited knowledge and limited ability can go down some very destructive rabbit holes. This often happens when people reject the truth because they can't understand it, and/or they do not allow scripture to be their anchor. Some will ignore scripture entirely yet still make claims about it.

One of these that is gaining popularity today is the heresy of Arianism, that Jesus was just a man and not God. National speaker and conservative advocate Brandon Tatum, who claims to be a Christian publicly said, "The Bible doesn't say that Jesus was God." However, he was wrong. Scripture does say that Jesus was God and is very clear on this matter. Here is what scripture actually says:

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus the Messiah is the Word. He always was and is God. And Jesus was God incarnate, in other words, God become man. This is clear that the Jesus who walked on the earth was both man and God.

Colossians 2:9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,

Here again scripture tells us that Jesus was God incarnate. He was fully God.

In the next scripture Jesus is responding to the question of whether He was the Christ or not.

John 10:30-33 "I and the Father are one." The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, "I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?" The Jews answered Him, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God."

A common misdirection by some, including Muslim apologists, is to say that nowhere in the Bible does Jesus say, "I am God, worship me." While those exact words do not appear in scripture, neither are the words "I am not God, don't worship me." When Jesus answered the question of whether He was the Christ by saying that He and the Father are one, He was clearly identifying himself as God. The Jews that were there understood what that meant as illustrated by their actions to try to stone Him to death.

In the Old Testament, God gives the name "I AM" as a name for Himself.

Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

This was well known among the Jews. So if anyone used this name the meaning would be clear to them.

John 8:58-59 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.

And again when Jesus was being questioned by the Jewish authorities:

Mark 14:61-64 But He kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, "Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" And Jesus said, "I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven." Tearing his clothes, the high priest said, "What further need do we have of witnesses? "You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?" And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.

By using "I am" Jesus was being perfectly clear that He was the Messiah and He was God. Thus, the Jewish leaders had the false proof of blasphemy they wanted. While this would be blasphemy for anyone else to say, for the actual Messiah it was a true statement.

John 14:9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?"

In talking to His disciple, Philip, Jesus makes it clear that He and the Father are the same. This is because Jesus was God as the Father was God.

Matthew 1:23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel," which translated means, "God with us."

Matthew is quoting from Isaiah 7:14, 9:6-7, and 8:10. Isaiah prophesied that God would be with us, coming as a baby. The meaning of the name is clearly stated.

John 20:26-29 After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you." Then He said to Thomas, "Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing." Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed."

Jesus did not correct Thomas' assertion that He was Lord and God. He affirmed Thomas, and only commented on his need to see to believe.

Scripture is quite clear that Jesus was and is God. Anyone who says scripture doesn't say Jesus is God hasn't read scripture. Some, including a founder of a "Christian" denomination claim to have had a "revelation" from the Holy Spirit that Jesus was just a man. However, God does not contradict himself. Any "revelation" that contradicts scripture did not come from the Holy Spirit, but from a different spirit or the person claiming it. Tatum, who was mentioned at the beginning, and anyone else who claims Jesus was not God, have fallen for the heresy of Arianism. This heresy is not compatible with the Christian gospel.

If Jesus was just a man, then His sacrifice on the cross meant no more that the hundreds of thousands of other crucifixions by the Romans. And as the entire foundation of the Gospel message is salvation through God incarnate's crucifixion and resurrection, belief in Arianism means that one does not believe in Christianity.

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