The Deity of Christ
Matthew 1:18 "... Mary...she was found to be pregnant, the source of that pregnancy being the Holy Spirit."
THE SOURCE: from above. All human beings are connected to Adam. And since Adam sinned, sin entered mankind. So, the Lord Jesus has to come from another source--that is, from the Holy Spirit (from above). Joseph did not have anything to do with the conception of the Lord Jesus. Otherwise, He would have been a sinner and would have possessed the evil nature like all humans do (Romans 3:23).
1 Peter 2:22 "...who never in a single instance committed a sin, and in whose mouth, after careful scrutiny, there was found not even craftiness..."
COMMITTED: pure action meaning pure walk and pure talk. Peter, the author of this letter, was chosen to talk about the perfect walk of the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing in himself that he has failed many times especially when he denied the Lord three times. Ironically, we would think that the Holy Spirit would have chosen somebody who has a better walk, but this is just to prove us that in comparison to Christ we all fail short.
1 John 3:5 "... and sin in Him does not exist..."
IN: inner being; does not possess the evil nature or indwelling sin; incapacity of responding to sin; dead to sin; equal to the Father. There is no nature of sin in Him and there is not even a particle of sin in him. Because He does not partake the sinful nature like us, He is unique. All the temptations that He received during His earthly ministry was not from inside but from outside (Hebrews 4:15 "...but One who has been tempted and tested in all points [as we are], without sin"). This only proves that He is the Son of God since eternity past, present, and will continue to remain like that. His deity did not change when He incarnated as a human being on the scene. What happened was that He hid His glory by taking a human body. The verse says, "He emptied himself" would be rather interpreted as "He made himself of no reputation." He never shone like a King, but He came to serve as a servant to fulfill the plan of His Father. Philippians 2:7 says,"...but himself He emptied, himself He made void, having taken the outward expression of a bondslave, which expression comes from and is truly representative of His nature [as deity], entering into a new state of existence, that of mankind." He never owned a body when He was in heaven, thus He never suffered before. Hebrews 5:8, "Though He was Son [of God] by nature, yet He learned obedience from the things which He suffered,..." It was something new for Him. He knew it by knowledge but not by experience. Hebrews 10:7, "then I said, Behold, I come in the volume of the book it stands written concerning me, to do Your will, oh God." 1 Timothy 3:16 also says,"And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness; who [Christ Jesus v.13] was made visible in the sphere of flesh [His humanity], vindicated in the sphere of spirit [as to His deity]..."
Because of the attacks and the lack of contextual teaching on the Lord's deity, we are obliged to focus on this subject and to make it clear for everybody.
Those who believe that the Lord Jesus could sin during His ministry do not understand the source of His birth from Matthew. Also, the same people who believe that He could sin believe that they can lose their salvation, because a weaker savior will produce a weaker salvation. Our salvation is only proportional to the limitation of the savior. It is hence logical to assume that if they say that the Lord Jesus could sin, then they can not say that He is the Son of God, because God does not have the nature of sin.
There are two possibilities or reasons for people to continue believing such an evil teaching. First they are ignorant of the scriptures or they are blinded by their teachers. The second is that they are unsaved. They only profess to be saved, but it is only based on their knowledge (mental belief). It makes no sense to feed upon such a teaching and trying to rejoice on eternal salvation. A true Christian will always be happy to find out later in His Christian life that he can not lose his salvation. One may start his Christian life without knowing the whole teaching concerning the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, but by scrutinizing the scriptures or meeting other Christians, will later come to an understanding.
In my opinion, a genuine Christian will always be happy to find out that his salvation is not conditional but positional. Remember the Lord Jesus on earth did not focus in convincing people that they could lose the gift of salvation, but rather, He made it as an eternal gift. How silly it would be to give something and then take it back. Read Ephesians 2:8 and Romans 8:28-30 "...these He also glorified (past tense)." And Romans 8:31-39, "...in Christ Jesus our Lord." The title CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD means anointed in resurrection, and having also sealed His people (Assembly) with the Spirit. Read also Ephesians 1:13,"...in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Spirit..."
On the other hand, for those who believe that the Lord Jesus could not sin and did not have the nature of sin in Him, understand the eternal security of their salvation, and for such people there is no way they could lose their salvation because they stand on a solid rock--the rock of ages, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Three Offices (Functions) of The Lord Jesus Christ
The SaviorTo be saved and to become a member of God's family, we need a Savior (John 3:16, John 3:36, Romans 5:1, & Ephesians 2:8).
Acknowledging one's state and repentance from his sins and faith in Christ brings salvation to the lost soul. It happens only once in the life of a person because this salvation is eternal. ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED. |
The High PriestDuring our Christian life, we need a High Priest to do the religious service on our behalf (Hebrews 8:1, Hebrews 9:11 & Hebrews 13:15).
Having devoted Himself to service to the Father when He was on earth, the Lord Jesus can help us serve Him. He knows what we have to go through so He gives us a hand to go through life. Being in heaven on the right side of God, we offer prayers and worship to the Father through Him. |
The AdvocateWe may fall into sin occasionally during our Christian life which may break the communion we have with the Father, so we need an Advocate to help us keep and restore our communion through confession (1 John 1:7 & 1 John 2:1) until the caught up comes (1 Thessalonians 4:13).
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The High Priest and the Advocate are the ones needed in our Christian life, not the Savior anymore because our sins have been dealt with at the cross once for all. The Savior's function is history for us, Christians. We are already behind the cross and we can not go back. The cross was a bridge to reach the other side, from spiritual death to eternal life. The book of our life as sinners is closed. We are cured from our sins already. Now, we have another book open--the book of life. We are grateful for the forgiveness and the salvation we received, and now we move on to living a holy life with the help of the Lord Jesus as our High Priest and Advocate.
The role of the Lord Jesus being the Savior is something we look from behind, the Advocate is at the present and will end at the caught up (1 Thes. 4:13), but the High Priest will continue in eternity (Hebrews 7:20).
The role of the Lord Jesus being the Savior is something we look from behind, the Advocate is at the present and will end at the caught up (1 Thes. 4:13), but the High Priest will continue in eternity (Hebrews 7:20).