Truth Magazine

By Hoyt Houchen

Jesus inquired of his disciples: “Who do men say that the Son of man is?” (Matt. 16:13) The disciples responded with some existing views: “Some say John the Baptist; some Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets” (v. 14). Different views of Jesus are also prevalent now.

The nature of Christ (his person and work) has been the subject of controversy for centuries, and is continually debated. Webster defines “nature” as “the inherent character or basic constitution of a person or thing: Essence.”‘

Some Past and Present Views

The Ebionites (a sect of Jews who lived in the early centuries A.D.) denied the divine nature of Christ. They accepted Jesus as a prophet and the supreme lawgiver, but they denied his deity. They regarded him as being merely a man.

Arius (256-336 A.D.) denied the deity of Christ. In fact, he and his followers, like modern day “Jehovah’s Witnesses,” believed that Jesus was created by God the Father, thus making him inferior to the Father.

Through the centuries, modernists have denied that Jesus was supernatural. They have denied his deity, his miracles and his vicarious suffering. Some contend that he was the greatest man who ever lived; but that he was only a man, and no more than a man. But Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. If he were not what he claimed to be, how could he be classified as a good man? A good man would not deceive.

Presently, some assert that when Jesus came to earth he gave up all supernatural power  that Jesus performed miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit. If this be true, Jesus was not above his apostles, for the power they had was also given to them by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8).

Some admit that while on earth Jesus was God in the flesh, but that he voluntarily gave up his divine powers. Imagine, if you can, deity without divinity!

The battle lines are drawn as to the nature of our Lord while he sojourned upon the earth. As one writer expressed it: “The greatest battle of our age is the one now being fought by two invisible armies, as they struggle to dominate the minds of men. The one army we may rightly call supernaturalism; the other, with equal accuracy, we shall designate naturalism.’* Thus, the nature of Christ is not to be regarded as an irrelevant issue, but rather one that is to be encountered face to face. Was Jesus only a man upon earth, or was he more than a man? How we regard Jesus could well determine the destiny of our souls. It is therefore a most important issue. This article focuses upon Jesus the Son of God.

The Title: Son of God

It was foretold that Jesus was to be called the Son of God. The angel Gabriel was sent by God to Nazareth where he said to the virgin Mary: “And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shalt be called the Son of the Most High” (Lk. 1:31,32). God referred to him as his “beloved Son” at his baptism and the transfiguration (Matt. 3:17; 17:5). Jesus is also referred to as the “only begotten” Son of God (Jn. 1:14; 3:16,18; etc.). The Greek word for “begotten is monogenes, a word of much dispute. This word, like logos, has special meaning in John’s gospel. It is “only begotten” and is so defined by the translators of the King James and American Standard versions and numerous exegetes. Liddell and Scott give as their first definition: “only begotten.”3 Jesus was more than a son, or “only son,” he was “the only begotten Son of God,” distinguished from an ordinary son.

Jesus claimed to be the “Son of God.” The expression “Son of Man” is only used by Jesus of himself. He refers to himself by this expression more than any other. How-ever, he also applied the title “Son of God” to himself (Mk. 14:61,62; Jn. 9:35; 10:36).

Others declared Jesus to be the Son of God. Peter affirmed to Jesus: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). Jesus commended Peter for that great confession. It was upon this eternal truth that Jesus promised to build his church (v. 18).

As John was approaching the end of his gospel, he wrote: “Many other signs therefore did Jesus in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book but these are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God: and that believing ye may have life in his name” (Jn. 20:30,31).

What Is Involved In Sonship

The deeds performed by the Son attest to his relationship with his Father. Please note some of the power and work of Jesus our Lord: (1) He can give life (Jn. 5:21). (2) Judgment is committed to the Son (v. 22). (3) The Son is to be honored as is his Father (v. 23). (4) The Father and the Son are one (Jn. 10:30). (5) The Son is in the Father and the Father is in the Son (Jn. 10:38). The title “the Son of God” reflects the relationship of Jesus to his Father by fulfilling his work as the divine Messiah, who had been foretold in the Old Testament.

Christ referred to God as his Father over one hundred times in the gospels. Jesus sustained a close, personal relationship with his Father. The use of the Aramaic word abba (Mk. 14:36) is a very personal, intimate word for God.4 A significant statement regarding the relationship of Jesus with his Father is found in Matthew 11:27: “All things have been delivered to me of my Father: and no one knoweth the Son, save the Father; neither doth any know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son “willeth to reveal him” (see also Lk. 10:22). This is exclusive Sonship. No one else could claim this distinct relationship save Jesus himself.

He Was Deity

Two Greek words deserve our attention: theotes (Col. 2:9), translated “Godhead” and theiotes (Rom. 1:20), translated “divinity” (ASV). Some make a distinction between the two words while others do not. Arndt and Gingrich, for instance, define theotes: “deity, divinity.”5 But the fact remains: Jesus was both deity and divinity.

John declared: “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God” (Jn. 1:1). This word (Gr. logos) is said by Vine to be: “the personal manifestation, not a part of the divine nature, but of the whole Deity.”6 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. . .” (v. 14). Thus Jesus became incarnate, and becoming such, he was not less God than he had been before. He remained God. The word dwelt among us. Literally, he “tabernacled” among us (Gr. skeenoo). How did he become incarnate? He was born of a virgin. Jesus said: “But a body didst thou prepare for me. . .” (Heb. 10:5). Mary did not give birth to the me, or God, who is eternal. She was the mother of the human body of Jesus, but not the mother of God, as the Catholics claim.

Jesus had the power to forgive sins (Mk. 2:5,7). Since no one but God could forgive sins; and Christ did forgive sins; therefore, he was God.

The infant Jesus was worshipped by the wise men (Matt. 2:1,2,11). The word “worship” (Gr. proskuneo) is applied to Jesus “who is to be revered and worshipped as Messianic King and Divine helper…”‘

When Cornelius fell down at the feet of Peter and worshipped him, Peter raised him up saying: “Stand up; I myself also am a man” (my emphasis). But at no time did Jesus ever refuse to be worshipped. Why? Because he was more than a man.

He Was Divine

When Jesus “emptied” himself (Phil. 2:7). He was not divested of, nor did he voluntarily give up, his divine power. The key word in the passage (Phil. 2:1-8) is humility. Nothing of his nature changed when he came to earth. “He divested himself, not of his divine nature, for this is impossible, but of the glories, the prerogatives of Deity. This he did by taking upon him the form of a servant.”8 His role changed, but not his nature. A parallel is found in 2 Corinthians 8:9.

Our finite minds cannot comprehend all that is involved in the nature of Christ, but we can honor and praise him as the Son of God. The Eunuch confessed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God before he was baptized (Acts 8:37). Jesus Christ is the Son of God! May we always treasure this great truth in our hearts, and may we never be guilty of trodding the precious Son of God under our feet (Heb. 10:29). Let us confess him with our lips and by our lives.

References

1. Webster’s Ninth Collegiate Dictionary, p. 789.

2. Wilbur M. Smith, The Supernaturalness of Christ, p. vii.

3. Liddell and Scott, Greek-English Lexicon, p. 945.

4. Arlie J. Hoover, Dear Agnos, p. 171

5. Arndt and Gingrich, Greek-English Lexicon, p. 359.

6. W.E. Vine, Expository Dictionary, Vol. 4, p. 230.

7. Arndt and Gingrich, Op. cit., 724.

8. J.B. Lightfoot, Epistle to the Philippians, p. 112. G1

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII No.23, p. 3-5
December 1, 1994

By Steve Wallace

The Word of God tells of the matchless love of Christ which we celebrate in song. Indeed the Bible’s portrayal of the love of Christ is one which shows it to be unlike any love known to man. We could examine Christ’s love from the standpoint of the effects it has had on mankind where it has provoked change of life, devotion, praise, sacrifice, and wonderful works. However, such effects, no matter how marvelous, are only reactions to this unique love. Therefore, let us look at some things that the Bible says about it and, though dealing with a broad subject within a limited space, seek to know more about the matchless love of Jesus.

1. The background of his coming. God had loved Israel “with an everlasting love” (Jer. 31:3) and could say in the book at the end of the Old Testament canon, “I have loved you” (Mal. 1:2). However, his love was generally not requited. On the contrary, his people had largely rejected him in various ways throughout their history (Hos. 3:1f; Heb. 3:7-11; Matt. 21:33-44). Rightly does Isaiah write that “all we like sheep have gone astray” (Isa. 53:6). Through all this “God, willing to show his wrath (e.g., Sodom and Gomorrah, the flood, the Babylonian captivity), and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering (i.e., he showed his love, Eph. 4:2) the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction” (Rom. 9:22). Having shown love for mankind through all its tragic history, God made the greatest demonstration of his love: he “so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16). Where on earth can one go to find such an example of love? The matchless love of Christ had its roots in a similarly matchless love.

2. His life. Love gives (Jn. 3:16) and Jesus’ life was a life of giving, a life of love. Though he existed in the “form of God,” Jesus “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:6-7, ASV). “He came to his own, and his own received him not” (Jn. 1:11). Undaunted by the enemies he made, he “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). Summing up his work, “The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Matt. 11:5). He taught that man’s primary obligation is to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” and to “love thy neighbor as thyself ” (Matt. 22:37-39) and exemplified such love for all to see by his good works and by his keeping God’s commandments (Jn. 14:15). Though tempted, he “did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth” (1 Pet. 1:22). The life that he lived is without parallel; the love he exemplified is matchless!

3. His last day. We see our Savior’s matchless love from another perspective when we study some of the last deedsof his life. “Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end” (Jn. 13:1). With the humiliation and pain of the cross looming up before him, he humbled himself, washing his disciples’ feet as an ex-ample to them (Jn. 13:15-16). As he was being led to Calvary, bloodied by the beating he had just received, he refused the sympathy of women who followed him choosing rather to sympathize with them (Lk. 23:27-31). In spite of the intense pain he must have felt as he hung on the cross, his thoughts were of others: he prayed for his executioners, spoke salvation to one of the thieves, and saw to the care of his mother (Lk. 23:34,39-43; Jn. 19:25-27). “When he was reviled, (he) reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not” (1 Pet. 2:23). Through it all, he was the picture of perfect love. We search in vain for such an example in all the pages of all the books that have ever been written, save one: The Bible. “Oh what love, matchless love.”

4. His death. This sacrifice would be incomplete if we failed to note what the Bible says about our Lord’s death. He said, “No man taketh (my life) from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again” (Jn. 10:18). Jesus chose to lay down his life. “Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us” (1 Jn. 3:16, ASV). “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:5-6). “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in what while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us . . . when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (Rom., 5:6-10). Satan once said, “Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life” (Job 2:4). It was love that caused Christ to overcome man’s natural aversion to dying, a love not quenched by the long history of man’s rebellion against God nor by the treachery which surrounded his death. “Oh what wondrous love I see freely shown for you and me!”

5. How should we then live? Love begets love (Jn. 15:9; 1 Jn. 3:16). Therefore, we should strive at “having the same love” Christ has shown us (Phil. 2:1-2). I suggest the following applications of his love to our lives:

1. We should love Christ’s body, the church (Eph. 5:25). He gave himself for it and we should do our part to keep it as he would have it, without “spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing” (Eph. 5:27).

2. We should love the truth which Jesus died to give man (Heb. 9:14-23; Jn. 8:32; 14:23; Gal. 5:6).

3. We should love our brethren (Phil. 2:1-2; 1 Jn. 3:16; 4:7).

4. We should love the lost On. 3:16; Rom. 5:8).

5. Husbands should love their wives as “Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it” (Eph. 5:25).

6. We should cultivate love’s wonderful character so that it becomes a part of our personality (1 Cor. 13:4-8).

7. We should love our enemies (Matt. 5:43-48; Lk. 23:34).

Conclusion

Christ’s love is without comparison. Nothing which we might allow to influence us in this world can approach matching the one-of-a-kind love we find in Jesus, and our greatest endeavors are worthless without love (1 Cor. 13:1-3). May we all give ourselves to him because of the “love that will not let me go” and be “constrained” by it to walk closer to him each day (2 Cor. 5:14). Brethren, “keep yourselves in the love of God” (Jude 21).

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII No.23, p. 13-14
December 1, 1994

By Bob Owen

By the standards of the world, my college professor was an unusually “nice guy.” Holding a Ph.D. in Theology from a major European university and being a licensed, ordained minister in a major denomination, and heading the Religion Department in a major state university, surely he is representative of mainstream attitudes for religious leaders. We had become mutually respectful friends from our many hours of after-class discussions. I was pleased when he asked me to accompany him to a nearby town and show his slides as he spoke to a civic club about the Dead Sea scrolls. Not surprisingly, he worked into the talk his view that “Jesus was not really born of a virgin. When they said he’s the Son of God, it was just the ancients’ way of saying, `He’s such a great man his father must have been a God! ‘

Nothing could be more critical to our personal salvation than his divinity. Satan recognized this when he asked, “If thou be the Son of God. . . ” (Matt. 4:1-11). The demons knew him and “cried out saying, what have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?” (Matt. 8:29) Was he just a man? A good man? Or uniquely the Son of God?

The angel told Mary, “that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Lk. 1:35). Almost a hundred names and titles are given to Jesus in Scripture and none with more significance than Son. Reflecting not only an intimate relationship, Sonship denotes identity in nature or character. This is explicitly claimed for him in Hebrews 1:3 as “the very image of his [God’s] substance.” Used here only in Scripture, this term presents Jesus as the exact representation of God’s nature (Arndt and Gingrich) and according to Vine, the phrase shows Jesus to be distinct from yet “literally equal to” the Father.

Word Became Flesh

The well known history in John 1 describes divinity becoming flesh. Devastating the Gnostics of the day and giving an anchor of faith for all times, John begins his gospel with three powerful and interrelated clauses:

In the beginning was the Word

And the Word was with God

And the Word was God!

The focus in this verse is obvious: the Word. The Word, without beginning was “in the beginning.” “The Word was God” emphasizes not the time element but the character or nature of God. Whatever God is, the Word is. Some religions today profess a “faith” in Jesus but teach he is a created being: “a god” but not “the God.”

John further relates “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us….” (1:14) The One who existed “in the form of God … emptied himself … being made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, [obeyed] even unto death” (Phil. 2:6-8) Was he God or was he man? Clearly the Scripture claims both. He was God “manifested in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16).

This dual nature of the Christ has been questioned by men for ages. In 1950, discussing the Christology of the New Testament writings, Benjamin Warfield noted,

One of the most portentous symptoms of the decay of vital sympathy with historical Christianity which is observable in present-day academic circles is the wide-spread tendency in recent Christological discussion to revolt from the doctrine of the Two Natures in the Person of Christ . . . voices are raised all about us declaring the conception of two natures in Christ no longer admissible” (Person and Work of Christ, 211).

Some among us in an apparent attempt to answer a false position on the necessity of man sinning have denied the divinity of Jesus affirming him to be a man only like other men while on earth. He was “fully man” but not “just a man.” When some ask, “How could he be 100% divine and 100% man? That’s 200%!” they are limiting God to our standards. We cannot understand eternity, the resurrected body, or a host of other things but we accept them by faith.

“My Lord and My God”

How can we know he was God’s Son? First, of course, by what God says of him. At the baptism and at the transfiguration God proclaimed, “This is my beloved Son.” Repeatedly, Jesus claimed to be the Son and affirmed that he and the Father functioned as one. When Philip asked him to show them the Father, Jesus said, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (Jn. 14:9).

The testimony of the disciples also confirms Sonship. Peter’s confession, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16) was not of human wisdom. Jesus said, “My father” is the one who revealed it (Matt. 16:17).

The ultimate evidence for his divinity is the resurrection. Paul ties together his dual nature when he says of the Son, “. . .who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, even Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 1:3-4). God has left abundant evidence for the resurrection: the prophets, the empty tomb, the scores of eye witnesses, the remarkable change in the lives of the apostles. Yes, “.. . declared to be the Son of God with power.”

A conservative Presbyterian preacher in that civic club took exception publicly to my professor’s statement about the virgin birth. (I heard most of the members apologize for his actions after the meeting was over.) As we drove home, I asked the professor if he believed there would be a resurrection. After evading several times he finally said, “I just don’t know, but I don’t think it makes any difference.” No difference? God says it makes all the difference.

The book of Mark opens with the simple but powerful statement, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mk. 1:1). After recounting (by inspiration) his life, Mark describes the death of our Lord and records the words of the centurion, “Truly this man was the Son of God” (Mk. 15:39). Do we dare say less?

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII, No. 23, p. 2
December 1, 1994

By Harold Fite

Did Jesus live on this earth without sin? Was he tempted as we are tempted? Was it possible for him to sin? These questions and their answers lie at the very heart of our salvation.

If Jesus had committed one sin, he could not have been the Saviour of the world! If it were impossible for him to sin, his perfect life lacks meaning.

The apostles and the early church never questioned the sinlessness of Christ. It was the consensus of the early ecclesiastical writers that Jesus lived a sinless life, yet there was disagreement among them whether it was possible for Christ to sin. Some believed that because of his deity, it was impossible for him to sin.

Tertullian inferred the sinlessness of Christ because of his divinity. Origen regarded his sinlessness as a peculiar property of the human soul of Christ, but produced by its union with the divine Logos. Apollinaris believed human nature implies limitations, mutability, conflict, sin, etc., that no man could be a perfect man without sin. He believed that the Logos replaced the human soul in Christ and imported to him an irresistible tendency to do good. Socinianism asserted the sinlessness of Christ, but denied he was really subject to temptation because of “supernatural generation.”

On the other hand, Athanasius affirmed his sinless perfect human nature. He correctly observed that sin does not belong to human nature, that man was originally pure and sinless. He concluded that Christ could thereby assume the nature of man without being made subject to sin. He did concede man’s liability to temptation. Council of Chalcedon (A.D. 451), expressed the doctrine in these words: “Truly, man with a rational soul and body of like essence with us as to his manhood and in all things like us, sin excepted.”

Jesus was God (Deity) and man (human). Deity cannot be tempted: “for God cannot be tempted with evil . . .” (James 1:13). If he were tempted it had to occur relative to his humanity. His reaction to that temptation, whether to resist or succumb, would be a human choice.

Jesus Was Man

The Word became flesh (John 1:14). His genealogy affirms his humanity (Matt. 1:1-17; Lk. 3). After his resurrection he appeared to his disciples saying, “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you behold me having” (Lk. 24:39). He was found in fashion as a man (Phil. 2:7,8). The apostles affirmed his human form as one whom they had seen, heard, and handled (1 Jn. 1:1-3). “Since children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also in like manner partook of the same . . .” (Heb. 2:14). As the Son of Man he was representative of all humanity.

Tempted As Man

He was led into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil. The Devil appealed to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. Jesus deflected these thrusts with “it is written,” (Matt. 4:1-11). He proved himself to be the perfect Saviour. He was tempted in all like points as we are, “yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth” (1 Pet. 2:22). “And you know that he was manifested to take away sins; and in him is no sin” (1 Jn. 3:5). For one to be able to raise others from the ruin of sin, he must be holy, undefiled and separate from sinners. Jesus was these and more. “Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:21). As a man he was tempted, lived a sinless life, suffered, and died on the cross.

The Flawless Priest

Jesus’ sinlessness has a bearing on his sacrifice and priesthood. The High Priest of the Old Testament was appointed by God for men. He served as mediator between God and Israel. One who performed sacrificial rites had to be free from bodily defects to be able to do so. He entered the most holy place on the day of atonement to offer up sacrifices for the people, priests, and his house. Christ, our great high priest is the reality of that typified by the Aaronic priesthood. His priesthood is far superior to that of Aaron’s for two reasons: (1) Christ is priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, (2) He didn’t have to offer a sacrifice for his sins as did Aaron (Heb. 5:3). Jesus “needeth not daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people: for this he did once for all, when he offered by himself ” (Heb. 7:27). We therefore conclude with the Hebrew writer: “For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been in all like points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15).

The Perfect Sacrifice

The sin offering under the Levitical economy was without blemish. Jesus, the High Priest of our confession, had somewhat to offer. He offered himself as the sacrifice for sin. “Who through the eternal spirit offered himself with-out blemish unto God . . .” (Heb. 9:14). “Without blemish” refers to Jesus’ sinless conduct. And “once at the end of the ages hath he been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice to him-self’ (Heb. 9:26). If Jesus had committed one sin (blemish) he could not have put away sin.

He redeemed us with precious blood as of a lamb without spot or blemish (1 Pet. 1:18,19). Only by being sinless could he have redeemed us by his blood.

If Jesus had not been sinless, his Priesthood would have been no better than Aaron’s; his sacrifice would have been polluted; and his blood would not be efficacious. By living the perfect sinless life, he became the perfect Saviour. cr

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII No.23, p. 5-6
December 1, 1994