Question: Greg,
I have a good friend who had done extensive study of the scriptures.
His belief (I don’t agree) is that “Jesus is the son of God, not God,
the Son.” It sounds to me like he
does not believe in the triunity of the Godhead, but I do not have enough
knowledge at this time to present the truth.
To me it would seem that leaving Christ separate from God in this way is
not biblical.
Others of my acquaintances have said this person is part of a cult, but I
find that hard to believe. Can you
give me an overview of what this belief is and some references to study?
Walt
Answer: Dear
Walt,
There are times when an issue can be framed as an “either/or”
proposition, thus obviating the truth. This
issue, at least as I understand by what you have written, is a case of
“both/and”.
You re generally correct in what you say about the person who may have
extensively studied the Bible but does not recognize what is a core and central
teaching of all Christianity—that Jesus was and is God.
As you know, extensive study of the Bible does not guarantee
truth—there are atheists and agnostics who are experts in the Bible.
And yes, the denial of the divinity of Jesus is a common teaching of
cults.
Jesus is both the son of God and God the Son—he is the Eternal Son of
God. This issue is taught and
explained by the Christian doctrine called the “incarnation”.
The incarnation teaches that Jesus was the Eternal Son of God, the second
person of the Triune God. As God,
Jesus came into the flesh to save and rescue humanity.
In so doing he became something he never was—human—while never
ceasing to be what he always was, divine.
There are many passages in the New Testament that teach and explain the
incarnation—of course the Gospels are an excellent place to start.
We have many questions and answers posted here on our web site about this
topic—simply click on Ask Greg, then of the categories we offer I suggest
“Jesus Christ” as well as the “Trinity”.
In Christ,
Greg Albrecht