SPIRITUAL INSIGHTS PAGE

THE ISSUES           For an index of other pages on this topic, click here.

Jesus taught that, "I and the Father are one."  In this context John recorded that the Jews had accused Jesus of blasphemy because Jesus considered Himself to be God.  Jesus then uses the phrase "Son of God" as a synonym of "God."  He also assigns qualities of the Father to the "Son of God:" ". . . the Father is in Me, and I in the Father."  The Jews then tried to carry out their punishment of One who calls Himself God (John 10:22-39).   From this passage we understand that "Son of God" means "God."

Although doubting Thomas would not believe that Jesus had been resurrected, he readily agreed to the resurrection and the Deity of Jesus once he had the opportunity to inspect His wounds.  Then, in a more general way, John indicated that a purpose of all the miracles mentioned in his Gospel is to convince the reader that Jesus is the "Son of God."  That identity of Jesus is then associated with the process of salvation (John 20:26-31).

The teaching is that an understanding of Jesus as Deity is an element of the trust in Jesus that leads to eternal life (John 20:31).  So, the question, "Is Jesus God?," solicits an eternally significant answer.  Apparently, if one does not believe in the Divinity of Jesus, he cannot be saved.

If Jesus is not God, we must not worship Him.  The ten commandments demand that we worship only the true God (Exodus 20:3).

If Jesus is God, He deserves to be worshipped as God.   In fact, the New Testament demands that we must honor Jesus as the Father (John 5:23) and that all beings bow the knee to Him (Phillipians 2:10).

There is a range of understanding of the Deity of Christ from fully God to only man with different religious groups taking different viewpoints.  However, there is a widely accepted teaching of the Deity of Christ that is held by orthodox Christians.  Click on these links to be taken to additional pages on this topic.

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