The Importance of Believing in Christ’s Deity

By David Ettinger

A Heartfelt Request
I recently received a Facebook message from a friend which read: “David, would you consider writing an article about the importance of believing that Jesus is God? Just yesterday friends of ours declared that they don’t believe this. They believe as the [Jehovah’s Witness] believe – that God created Jesus. These friends go to our church. I am heartbroken today. I shared Scripture with them but to no avail. I shudder to think of the ramifications.”

The angst in my friend’s heart is evident, and for good reason: to deny Christ’s deity is to deny the core of Christianity and repudiate clear biblical teaching. If this core truth – the deity of Christ – is denied, then, in essence, so is the entire New Testament. To deny Christ’s deity is to deny that faith in Jesus Christ alone can save the souls of men and women, a fact crystalized in John 3:36: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”

Someone may counter, “I certainly believe that Jesus is the only way to salvation, but not that He is God. Where’s the problem?”

The problem concerns picking and choosing which scriptures one elects to accept and reject. The Bible asserts Christ is the only way to salvation. The Bible also asserts – numerous times – that Jesus is God. Where is the logic in believing in the one but not the other? To deny Christ’s deity is to create a Christ of one’s own making, and this simply won’t do.

Christ’s Deity
There are multiple verses which definitively proclaim Jesus Christ as God. Here are a few:

• “For in him [Jesus] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16).
• “In the beginning was the Word [Jesus], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:1-3).
• “while we wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).
• “Thomas said to him [Jesus], ‘My Lord and my God!’” (John 20:28).
• “Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ …” (2 Peter 1:1).
• “Theirs [the Jewish people] are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah [Jesus], who is God over all, forever praised! Amen” (Romans 9:5).
• And my favorite: “I [Jesus] and the Father are one” (John 10:30).

Where’s the Dilemma?
These verses require no explanation; they all proclaim: “Jesus is God!” In my friend’s note, she wrote that she shared Scripture with her doubting acquaintances, but they did not accept what she showed them. No doubt my friend referred to several of the above verses.

She also noted that her acquaintances attend her church, which is a Bible-believing, evangelical congregation. Though they deny Christ’s deity as do the Jehovah’s Witness, they do not attend a JW congregation. So, what’s the dilemma, and what’s the danger?

The dilemma is a blinding to the truth. It is one thing to be unsure of some outer-boundary issues of the Bible, such as should Christians drink alcohol or listen to rock music. But the issue of the deity of Christ is nonnegotiable. It is set-in-granite truth and cannot be disputed. If one attends a Bible-believing church and accepts the sovereign inspiration of the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16), then how can these indisputable verses be disputed, denied, or denounced? In light of the evidence, how can anyone claiming to be a Christian say that Jesus is not God, but rather a created being?

The danger is the entire belief system of the denier. To refute the deity of Christ in light of the above verses is to deny the authority, accuracy, and authorship of the Bible. It is to say that the Bible cannot be trusted; that its words are defective. Once these waters are entered, there are no more restraints. It is like driving down a busy avenue and saying, “This red light is in a crowded intersection, I will stop. However, this red light is in an area with hardly any cars, I’ll keep driving right through it.”

If we are to accept that the Bible is God-ordained, then we are to accept that the entirety of its content is precisely what God has determined it to be. To disclaim the deity of Christ is to open the door to disclaiming any or all biblical truth and pave the way for accepting heresy.

The Ultimate Importance
The ultimate importance of believing in Christ’s deity is the salvation of the soul. To deny Christ’s deity is to deny the salvation He came to earth to provide for sinful humanity. To accept it, as per Romans 10:9, is too have salvation – blissful eternal life with Christ.

Pray that God opens the eyes of those who believe in God the Father, but are blinded to the truth of the deity of Jesus Christ – God the Son. May they come to a full knowledge of the truth!

Tagged: christian living, Christianity, Practical, theology

Posted in: Apologetics, Application, Bible study, Christianity, Devotional, Editorial/Blog, Uncategorized