Romans 8:9—You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
I spoke with a woman recently who was interested in moving to our city and getting involved in our church. She asked me many questions regarding our doctrine. Then the conversation narrowed to a discussion of Jesus Christ.
In the third century AD, a heresy broke out in the church known as Dynamic Monarchianism. Adherents of this belief denied that Jesus was God. They believed He was a created being, infused with power at the time of His birth—a Savior to be worshiped but not God. I was quite stunned and dismayed to hear that this woman believed such things. Her honest reasoning was that if one studied Scripture to know God one should conclude that there is but one Lord and Jesus is not Him.
Now, I would be the first to admit that the whole concept of the Trinity is hard to understand and a cause of stumbling for more than just Muslims. However, the complexity of a subject does not render it false. Scripture soundly proves the deity of both Christ and the Holy Spirit.
1. Gnostics, and those who deny that Jesus is God often cite Colossians 1:15 as a convenient prooftext. Paul wrote that Jesus is the firstborn over all creation which some argue to show He too was created. What this argument fails to consider is that in Psalm 89:27 David is also called God’s "firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth." The Greek word for firstborn does not mean, "first created" which is an entirely different word. It means rather that Jesus holds the place of supremacy over all creation. Furthermore, if Mary’s boy-child was created in
2. Isaiah 45:12 is one of many Old Testament verses stating that God is the creator of mankind and the earth. Yet, Colossians 1:16-19 says Jesus was the Creator and that the fullness of God dwells in Him. The God the Old Testament describes as our Creator the New Testament reveals to be Christ!
3. God commanded the Israelites to worship no other gods (Exodus 20:3-5). To worship Jesus but claim He is not God then would make one guilty of idolatry. To be consistent, if Jesus is not God then it is entirely inappropriate to worship Him. Yet in Revelation 7:9-17, Jesus is worshiped at the center of God’s throne as the Lamb of God!
4. If Jesus is not God, then God could not bless those who are Trinitarians. To do so would be to make a mockery of Himself. Yet, we see a world of believers who worship and attest to the deity of the Holy Spirit and Christ who are dynamically empowered by God. Therefore, the burden of explanation is left for those who deny the trinity to explain why then God so richly works in the lives of those who give His Son and Spirit the same honor they accord Him.
5. John 10:30,31--Jesus said, "‘I and the Father are one.’ Again the Jews picked up stones to stone Him." Why? By their own words in verse 33, they sought to kill Him because He claimed to be God. Now if He was making false claims He was a liar, but if He was a liar then the fullness of God could not been His for God cannot lie. And if His claim was one in purpose only, the Jews would not have been so infuriated. They hated Him because as in John
These are but a few reasons why we can with confidence worship God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Something to think about . . . in
Inspiration
