Some Hesitation

Although Jesus is not the One God, he is God. Now, as we've proven again and again, the One God is the Father--so there's only One Being in the Universe we call the One God, the Father. However, you can call Jesus God.

There's so much confusion about the Deity of Christ, it causes us to declare "Jesus is God" with some hesitation. What do we mean when we say it? Well, we mean that Jesus is God in the sense of Philippians 2:6. That verse says that Jesus had the form of God which is compared to having equality with God.

... Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage... (Philippians 2:5b-6; NIV)

Christ Jesus, who, as he already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped (Philippians 2:5b-6; NASB)

Godhood

You can call the divine nature deity or godhood. In the times of King James, they called it godhead, which means the same thing as godhood. Godhead means the nature of God--something Jesus has. Womanhood is the nature of a woman. Childhood is the nature of a child. Godhood is the divine nature.

The only hesitation you’ll hear from us in the use of the term God for Jesus is when it casts additional confusion on an already confused mind. And there are many confused people out there—many of them have been innocently brainwashed. Many of them have fallen prey to manipulation by deceptive false pastors. Others are simply the victims of centuries of bad theology. To say "Jesus is God" to them only propagates their confusion.

So we might sometimes show hesitation in calling Jesus God. Not because it’s not true that he’s our God. He is. But because many people don’t understand how he got this authority and power. They cannot distinguish him from his God, the One True God. And yes, Jesus called the Father his God, the One True God.

I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God (John 20:17).

... this is eternal life: that they know you, the Only True God... (John 17:3)

Perfect Seven

Jesus is directly referred to as God seven times in the New Testament. He is referred to as God even more times in the Old Testament, but we will not address those Old Testament passages here. Rather, we will consider the seven New Testament passages that call Jesus God.

Consider how Jesus had a divine nature in the Old Testament. Well, that’s what made it logical to call him God! Likewise, every time Jesus is called God in the New Testament, the reference is to him in the divine nature. They are never references to Jesus in the flesh. The use of God for Jesus is always referring to Jesus either prior to his incarnation or after his resurrection.

Here are two of the seven. These point to Jesus prior to his incarnation:

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God with us’ (Matthew 1:23).

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This One was in the beginning with God (John 1:1-2; LEB).

Here are the other five. These all point to Jesus after his resurrection:

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known (John 1:18).

Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ (John 20:28)

Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen (Romans 9:5).

... while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our Great God and Savior, Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13).

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours (2 Peter 1:1).

Call him God… Cautiously

Now, you and I may certainly call Jesus God if the New Testament authors do it. But how did they do it? Cautiously. They did not do it carelessly. They called Jesus God in a calculated way, carefully considering the context of their speech. We should follow that pattern.

Remember that the term God appears 1,327 times in the New Testament, but only 7 of those occurrences refer to Jesus. Now, that’s not even one percent. It’s half of a percent (0.5%)! Although 7 times is certainly enough for Christians to believe that Jesus is divine, it’s not enough for anyone to justify confusing Jesus with the One God.

Since you live in perilous times, you do well to follow the example of the Apostles. Use the word God for Jesus sparingly. Since confusion abounds about who Jesus and God are, don’t add to the confusion. Don’t throw gasoline on the fire.

Be cautious.

One of Three

The Apostles only used the term God for Jesus to speak of our Lord prior to, or posterior to his being in the flesh. They only called Jesus God when they spoke of him prior to the incarnation or after the Resurrection. They never use it for Jesus when he was in the flesh. They never used the term God for Jesus when he was in Hades as a spirit.

Why didn’t they? Because Jesus didn’t have the divine nature during those two phases of his life.

The Apostles give recognition to Jesus now as a Divine Being. Yes, Jesus is one of three Divine Beings in the universe right now. What we mean by “Divine Being” is that these Three have the divine nature: the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

Divine Nature in Us

But since we too will obtain the divine nature, there won’t only be three divine beings in the universe after our Resurrection. There will be countless “gods” walking around. And you’ll be one of them!

What makes the Father unique among us? He’s the One God. What makes Jesus unique among us? He’s the Only Begotten Son of God. What makes the Holy Spirit unique? He resurrects us and empowers us by giving us the divine nature. He will make us into the divine beings we’ll become. The Spirit will give us what he has—the divine nature!

What is the Godhead?

Jesus’ godhood (or, as the term was used in the 1600s, godhead), is proven by the fact that he is directly referred to as God 7 times in the New Testament.

The original English term godhead is currently out of use with regards to its original meaning. It has come to mean something altogether different now. Trinitarians have redefined the term, and now use it as a one-word definition of their version of God!

The one the Trinitarians call "the One God," is the “One in Three” the Trinitarians like to speak of. That's the One they call the “Trinity”--also known as the Godhead. Their version of "One God" is [according to them] the mysterious combination of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in One. This "Godhead" is the Trinitarian’s version of the One God.

The Trinitarians have done something quite abominable. They not only have redefined God; they are completely misusing the biblical term godhead. Godhead should maintain its original meaning, which is godhood—the divine nature. But the Trinitarians have robbed the term of its original meaning. By doing so, they have invented a heresy, and a very big one!

No Reason to be Confused

Considered as a whole, and not investigating each one specifically, what do the seven verses mean with regard to the reality of One God? Are we to say that because Jesus is called God, that then he must be the same God to which the Bible refers when it mentions the One God? Absolutely not.

It’s not logical to declare that there is One God and then to turn around in the next breath and refer to two or more beings as that One God. It is very contradictory. The word “one” means “only one” or “just one.” One simply cannot mean two, three, four, or five. It’s not rational to declare that there is One God and then immediately to refer to more than one being as that One God. In the case of the Trinitarians, they say that there is “One God in Three Persons.” How does that make any sense?

Disqualification #1

Although some would argue for it, by no means do we consider that Acts 20:28 should be included on this list. It would go totally against the sound doctrine of the incarnation of Christ to interpret God as referring to Jesus in that passage. Although the NIV translated it as saying ‘...with his own blood,’ the best translations (such as the LEB) will supply the word Son to say ‘with his own Son’s blood,’ like this:

… shepherd the Church of God which he obtained through the blood of his own Son (Acts 20:28)

The LEB translators recognize that a plain translation will say ‘through his own blood’ but recognize that “… the Greek construction can be taken either way, with ‘Son’ implied if the meaning is ‘through the blood of his own.’” We agree with them that Son must be implied in order to avoid the unbiblical, grotesque, and borderline blasphemous picture of God shedding his own blood.

The entire New Testament stresses the fact that the shedding of blood was Jesus’ role, not God’s role. In fact, Jesus even presented that blood to God! It that is so, then how could God have possibly shed it? Frankly, it is a denial of the atonement to translate the passage the way the NIV has done it.

Other sound translations include the following:

Be like shepherds to God's church. It is the flock he bought with the blood of his own Son (CEV).

Be shepherds of the church of God, which he made his own through the blood of his Son (GNT).

Shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son (NET and NRSV).

Disqualification #2

Another passage which should not be included on the list of passages that call Jesus God is one that scribes for centuries have translated incorrectly. It does not say God. It actually says he or he who. Here it is:

He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the World, was taken up in glory (1 Timothy 3:16)

You may have read the KJV rendering of this verse which says “God appeared in the flesh,” but that comes from a Greek version based upon a scribal error. This verse does not qualify as one of the verses that call Jesus God.

Enough with Seven

Seven is enough. Seven verses are sufficient for us to understand that Jesus is Divine. If you know about the divine nature of Jesus, and are not confused by the false theologies of men, then go ahead and affirm that Jesus is God.

Go ahead! Confidently call the Lord Jesus God. Do it with understanding, just like Thomas did!

Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ (John 20:28)